Any effort to fathom why Madhavan decided to go ahead with this blunder called Arya, which has no script, no entertainment value and no thrills, will only result in a worse headache than that experienced while watching the film.
Probably, director Balashekharan had heard about the classic Shakespearean knot Taming of The Shrew, and wanted to adapt it to Indian conditions. Perhaps he imagined that a violent but mindless adjunct of an elder to the haughty lass would have added spice to this potboiler. Or maybe he reckoned that the addition of making a politician the laughing stock of the film could result in a few guffaws.
But all of them have fallen flat.
Arya is about a senior medico (Madhavan) being bothered by a proud woman (Bhavana), who is junior in college with the assistance of her sibling gangster (Prakash Raj). A pack of weirdos including a collector, an assortment of cops sporting strange patters of moustaches, a twisted prison superintendent, a corrupt judge and many more walk-in parts assist her in the endeavour.
After six songs, some stunts and an insipid attempt at drama, the boy gets his girl. In between all this, there is a politician (Vadivelu) who tries to play an unprofessional but silly masochist.
Madhavan and Prakash Raj try to accord some semblance of order in the beginning, but as the fare progresses, it is obvious they have lost interest. The buxom Bhavana has kaleidoscopic dreams that are transformed into celluloid nightmares for the audience. Nobody else is worth mentioning.
Mani Sharma's music is loud and its inanity is accentuated by silly lines like 'girls mean biology, boys mean zoology!'
Rediff Rating: