Asuran is the fastest Vetri Maaran who has ever worked on a movie.
And that contributes to its defining aspect – Asuran is Vetri Maarani’s simplest film to date. But the subliminal messages make it the most sophisticated socio-political film he has ever released.
For example, there is a conflict between Vadakkuri (Nordic) and Thekkuri (Southern). There is conflict between countries (sharp dialogue refers to how the rich and greedy covet even the least of those who have the skills at all) and the boxes (the other half of the footwear). At the very end, there comes a dialogue about how powerful people can rob land and money, but not education. Perhaps it would have been the Scale if it had Dhanush and not Rajinikanth. But the Asuran universe is based on the Tamil novel Vekkai (written by Pooman), which Vetri Maaran and Manimaran have adapted into a full-length scenario. He invites us to the earthy world inhabited by Sivasamy (Dhanush, starring) right at the beginning of the movie. The plot is simple: In Sivasamy’s and his family’s life, several incidents occur after a dispute with landowners with a higher-box family who have all the money, affecting the social hierarchy. Sivasamy is therefore forced to fight to save his family. The emotion that integrates this storyline is revenge – a recurring element in Vetri Maaran’s films. But here his protagonist does not give that primordial emotion, at least not in the beginning. He has even been slipped by his family members for being weak. All of this changes into a beautifully filmed sequence just before the interval where Sivasamy exposes an unknown face to his younger son (Ken, in a strong role). When Sivasamy got a chance to kill his eldest son’s murderer, he hides himself. His anxiety is explained in the historical order, which forms the greater part of the other half, leading viewers to the foreseeable peak. Watching the Asuran, I couldn’t help but wonder if Vetri Maaran felt limited by the book at some point. time, given how unrealistic the Sivasaamy universe is in response to events. The film is set in the second half of the 1950s and early 1960s to playback sequences, and the older Sivasamy parts are set in the 1980s. But the passage of time seems to reflect only the physical existence of the actors – something that happens in the plot still seems out of place today. It also made me wonder if Vetri Maaran would be filming a feature film that explicitly discusses caste and social hierarchy. Also, I couldn’t think how wonderful an actor is Dhanush among us. He puts on a modest performance for Sivasamyna and it shows the brilliance of the actor. It is amazing to think how far he is from his contemporaries. Manju Warrier could not have asked for a better movie for the Tamil debut; her Pachiammal testifies only to great actresses.
Teejay Arunasalam (as Velmurugan) and Ken (as Chidambaram) fit the role perfectly and it is remarkable how Vetri Maaran gets his casting right at any time. One thing he didn’t understand correctly was duplication. To save a couple of portions, the actors had to change the slang quite a few times, and it shows.
