Amaran review: Sivakarthikeyan and Sai Pallavi shine in this perfect tribute to Major Mukund Varadarajan

Films involving the Indian Army usually are filled with patriotism, and bank only on that aspect. But, the recent Tamil release Amaran is much more than just patriotism.

Starring Sivakarthikeyan and Sai Pallavi in lead roles, the film is based on the real-life story of Major Mukund Varadarajan, who was the head of Rashtriya Rifles. With the film being a biopic, it covers all aspects of Mukund’s life, and not only his years in the army.

While it is public knowledge that Mukund lost his life, the director made sure to make the screenplay engaging, turning the biopic into a dramatic thriller.

Another major highlight of the movie is the chemistry between the lead actors.

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Synopsis

Amaran starts with Sai Pallavi’s character Indu Rebecca Varghese, Malayalee wife of Major Mukund narrating the story of her and Mukund’s life, as she is travelling after the death of Mukund.

The audience is informed that Mukund Varadharajan (Sivakarthikeyan) has been passionate about joining the Indian Army since his early years. While his father supported him, his mother was in not favour as she wanted him to be in Chennai itself.

Initially, we are taken to the college life of Mukund at Madras Christian College, where he is also preparing for SSC. He meets Indu there and they fall in love. After much convincing, they get married. In the words of Indu, they are always in a “long-distance relationship” as Mukund is posted in different places including Jammu and Kashmir.

While the majority of the film focuses on Mukund’s career and the challenges he faced in the army, there are enough scenes between the pair, which showcase the bond they share.

With Amaran being based on an army man, the combat and encounter scenes were crucial to set the tone of the film. The incidents mentioned in the film, including the Shopian encounter being fresh in public memory, it was all the more important to portray them realistically, which Rajkumar Periyaswamy excelled in.

Highlights

The film based on the book “India’s Most Fearless: True Stories of Modern Military” by Shiv Aroor and Rahul Singh, shows the bravery of the army man and is a perfect tribute to him.

As mentioned before, the film doesn’t confine itself to the bravery of Mukund, it also gives a complete picture of the brave soldier. Despite the family life of Mukund being highlighted less, his relationship with Indu is portrayed beautifully, adding layers to the film.

The songs have been trending even before the Amaran released, and they were placed right too. The cinematography by CH Sai worked well, especially the visuals of Kashmir and Chennai became an integral part of the movie. Adding some more aspects of personal life would have enhanced the film even more.

The director also tried to add as many mass moments as possible. In an attempt to woo the Malayalee audience, Rajkumar added references to Mammootty, and Fahadh Faasil, which might work well.

However, Sai Pallavi’s Indu’s Malayalam dialogues weren’t perfect. Her pronunciation of Malayalam wasn’t good, but surprisingly, her parents and brothers spoke good Malayalam. All these are minor glitches.

Performances

Sivakarthikeyan as Major Mukund is definitely a good role for the young actor who has been part of commercial potboilers so far. The transformation made by the actor for the role of an army man has to be appreciated. His scenes with Sai Pallavi have also come out well.

Sai Pallavi as Indu Rebecca has once again delivered a stellar performance. Her expressions and emotions during crucial scenes have worked in theatres. If her Malayalam pronunciation could have been taken care of, then it would have been a perfect role.

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Final take

Amaran has all the moments for it to be a patriotic movie, enhanced by fine performances by Sivakarthikeyan and Sai Pallavi. The movie is a fine tribute to Major Mukund who died in an army operation in Shopian.

(Views expressed here are personal. Edited by Sumavarsha Kandula)