Review of Ayyiaa

Without having read much about the movie and only seen the trailer,  I was hoping to watch the story of a film fanatic who is aspiring to be an actress, as a matter of fact the first 5- 10 mins of the film lead you to believe that too, but as the character of Meenaxi(female protagonist played by Rani Mukherjee) starts unveiling, you only begin to realize that the writer has very comically and beautifully weaved the story of a middle class Maharastrian Brahmin girl who aspires for simple things like a small job , a home of her own, an independent life and a man she can fall in love with and elope. Meenaxi is a bit quirky and believes that she is a heroine in her own right and that her life is a perfect film. She works towards achieving her goals, a midst trying hard to get away from the typical expectations of arranged marriage from her comically weird family.  While on her job at an arts college, she falls in love with a mysterious painter/ student who happens to be a Tamilian, named Surya (Played by Prithviraj).  The most comical and core part of the movie is Meenaxi’s  attraction to Surya’s Bodys’ scent/ and her learning Tamil to get his attention

I wasn’t a bit surprised that the director of the movie, Sachin Kundalkar has a background in theatre. He has done a good job of researching and capturing nuances of three cultures- Maharastian, Tamil & Bollywood. However, there are instances where one could question certain boorish dialogues and a particularly raunchy dance/song numbers (especially “what to do”) which did feel a little over done. The songs seem to be forced in to the story which really seemed unnecessary. Maybe the director was trying to pack just too much to play safe

This movie is definitely one of Rani’s commendable performances and a good introduction to Prithviraj, who even with minimal dialogues just captures the audience with his expressions, a total Greek God like body and an amazing body language.  Despite the fact that the dance numbers are forced in, Rani seems to have mastered belly dancing and she and Prithviraj have danced perfectly well through all the songs.

I could easily give the movie a 3 stars from me, I am sure this movie is a lot more fun for someone who understands a fair bit of Tamil and Marathi like I do. Else, it could rate lower