Yennai Arindhaal

Rounding out his cop trilogy that began with Kaakha Kaakha and Vettaiyaadu Vilayaadu, Gautham Vasudev Menon gives us yet another chapter from yet another cop's life, although this is more a character study of a cop than just one episode from his life. When his father is shot dead by a gangster, a teenaged Sathyadev (Ajith) yearns for revenge. But, should he cross the line between good and bad? Sathyadev chooses the good side and becomes a cop. He eliminates a most wanted gangster, Matthew ( Stunt Silva), by befriending one of his henchmen, Victor (Arun Vijay). A few years later, Sathyadev is attracted to Hemanika ( Trisha), a single mother and a dancer. But when Hemanika is murdered on the eve of their wedding, Sathyadev goes on a cross-country sojourn with her six-year-old daughter Esha ( Anikha). But, five years later, situations force him to put on his cop shoes after he stumbles upon an illegal organ harvesting group that is being led by a ghost from his past — Victor. The gang's next target is Thenmozhi ( Anushka), an intrepid young woman, and Sathyadev decides to protect her at all cost.

Everyone has a moment in their lives when they have to choose what they want to become and in Yennai Arindhaal, both the protagonist and antagonist get such a moment. While Sathyadev chooses to be on the right side, loses people close to him of his choice and still manages to vanquish evil, Victor refuses to cross the line that separates the bad from the good. The director underscores this element in a crucial scene where Sathyadev and Victor speak to each other over a phone. Gautham splits the screen so that we see Sathyadev on one side and Victor on the other with a fine line separating these two characters. And, suddenly, an earlier scene where Sathyadev is deciding on what to become — a cop or a gangster — feels all the more important. He would have turned into another Victor if he had chosen the latter! Not surprisingly, Moondru Mugam, a film about a fearless cop and...