Ayalaan Review: A Harmless Entertainer!

Ayalaan, directed by R. Ravikumar, which underwent a six-year pre-production journey due to various challenges, has finally arrived to the big screen. This science fiction drama revolves around an alien, serving as the main selling point. Notably, it’s a genuine children’s film, an uncommon occurrence in recent years as it lacks even a health warning card.

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The cast of Ayalaan feature Sivakarthikeyan and Rakul Preet Singh in the lead roles, with Sharad Kelkar, and, significantly, the alien ‘Tattoo’ (voiced by Siddharth). The film revolves around Tattoo, an alien searching for a stone that accidentally lands on Earth, causing a series of events. Tattoo seeks help from Tamizh, an organic farmer who values nature over life. When a profit-driven scientist Aryan plans to exploit the stone’s energy, Tattoo and Tamizh unite to save Earth from destruction. The core plot of this sci-fi drama unfolds as they embark on their mission, raising questions about Tattoo’s return to his home planet.

Sivakarthikeyan engages the audience with his charm and energy, but due to the character being written within a standard mass hero template without depth, he has limited opportunities to showcase his acting skills, resulting in a nominal performance. Rakul Preet contributes little to the story beyond providing emotional support to the hero. Sharad Kelkar, as Aryan, portrays a typical business-minded antagonist with little substance in the poorly written character, lacking uniqueness. Other actors, including Karunakaran, Yogi Babu, and Isha Koppikar, perform adequately within their limited screen time.

Director R. Ravikumar, who demonstrated a grasp of time travel concepts in his debut film, adeptly simplifies and engages with the alien concept in this film. Despite the storyline having been explored by many commercial heroes previously, the film succeeds due to the director’s clever choice to narrate it through an alien perspective. His ability to translate ambitious ideas onto the screen showcases his strength in craftsmanship, hinting at a promise to create a complete S. Shankar style movie in the future.

Ayalaan showcases some of the finest visual effects in any Tamil film to date, credited to the outstanding technical crew involved in the project. The Alien’s more generic form was chosen to directly appeal to the audience, yet the meticulous detailing and high-quality visual effects rendered it both believable and convincing. The VFX team, Phantom FX, in collaboration with art director Muthuraj’s production design and Nirav Shah’s cinematography, successfully breathed life into the director’s vision with utmost authenticity.

Despite being crafted over various periods, Ruben’s editing ensured a seamless viewing experience, and the collective efforts of the team contributed to the film’s modern and relevant appearance. Academy Award winner, A. R. Rahman’s music, which had no significance before release, was passable while watching and his background score left no impact and felt repetitive.

Apart from the impressive VFX, several flaws contributed to the film’s mediocrity. It suffered from a lack of proper screenplay narration, with lethargic writing evident in multiple places. The absence of character arcs and the repetitive, unbelievable scenarios lacking originality resulted in an emotional disconnect from the screen. Intentionally made for kids doesn’t justify silliness and illogical elements, and the film’s shift towards a superhero theme in the end, rather than focusing on the alien, further diluted its core narrative.

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Overall, Ayalaan stands as a harmless entertainer suitable for family viewing, especially with children. The film could have been remarkable if the screenplay and story received the same level of attention as the VFX work. While it may feel somewhat disconnected to those familiar with a multitude of sci-fi films, it represents an honest attempt to bring joy of a sci-fi narrative to a broad audience in their native language.