Aruvi (2017) is a different type of film – it is only about the female lead, who is anomalous from the start. Played by Aditi Balan, the character Aruvi lights up in every frame with her strong personality, and brilliant performance by her – Kudos!
It is difficult to categorize Aruvi into any specific genre. The story is about a young girl who is the darling of her father, getting abandoned all of a sudden by her own family, forced to lead her life alone – in that journey she gets the support of a transgender girl Emily, played effectively by Anjali Varadhan. The bond between them is not out of romance but born out of a deeper friendship that develops due to a shared destiny.
Aruvi feels like the Director Arun Prabhu Purushotham, is holding a mirror at us – the society at large, and it shines brightly.
The second half of the film fully happens onset of a fictitious Reality Talk Show hosted by Lakshmi Gopalswami. Aruvi uses the setting to expose the hypocrisy of the stakeholders involved – as a technique, making fun of TV Talk Shows has become a cliché, we have seen it in the past too used ineffectively in Kadavul Irukaan Kumaru (2016) and Aruvi is no exception.
As much as the Director has succeeded in producing a gripping tale, he could’ve ended the film about 15 minutes earlier just after the flashback and current timeline (Aruvi is in police custody) have merged. The climax, in my view, was very cinematic and incongruous with what was being told earlier. Aruvi, just like the Tamil word it represents is a thunderous waterfall. Don’t miss it.
அருவி (2017)
Comments