Ayogya, the official Tamil remake of Telugu hit Temper is a movie that plays it for the gallery much like the Telugu version. The common sentiment surrounding the rape cases that rapists should be given death sentence immediately is the agenda of the film and with a sentimental hero worshipping happening at the end, you sort of forgive or forget the film for the initial overload of nonsense. Made as the transformation story of a corrupt police officer, Ayogya is a problematic script that ultimately manages to be a passable mass masala entertainer.
Karnan is a corrupt police officer. Being an orphan he had a very disturbing childhood and young Karnan learned that money can give you a lot of respect in this world and the people who wore KhaKee had no trouble in making money. Thus the kid aspired to be a corrupt cop and he became one. The story of Ayogya shows us the phase in Karnan’s life when he takes charge in Chennai. How Chennai life changes his life perspective through a series of events is what Ayogya showing us.
In comparison with Simmba, the Hindi version of Temper, Ayogya is the least tweaked interpretation. Barring one single change in the climax, Ayogya has almost everything that was there in Temper. So if you have liked Temper for its story, then Ayogya will surely work for you. I have a problem with excessive testosterone without much logic and for that reason, there are so many areas in this movie that didn’t work for me. Looking at the way the movie has built this central character, KS Ravikumar,s Abdul Kader telling Karnan that he is a changed man in that second half police station scene wasn’t really adequate for my sensibility. Too much of the stereotypes we see in this kind of masala films are there to make it difficult for someone who appreciates rational thinking.
Vishal as Karnan is on the eccentric side and that’s not a wrong thing to be. But there are moments where his short-tempered madness starts to look a bit funny. The interval block had a funny texture because the scene was supposed to be threatening but gave us the same “what’s wrong with this guy?” feeling Parthiban expressed in the same scene. Parthiban is the major antagonist here and to be honest, there isn’t enough of Parthiban in the movie to really remember him as the negative pole and most of his scenes had this comical texture. Raashi Khanna is pretty and gets the chance to be a part of the “maida mavu” comedy and the songs as well. Even though her character has a role in the screenplay, there isn’t much there for the actor in her to perform. KS Ravikumar as the idealistic police officer Abdul Kader was an interesting choice and was also pretty good in that character.
Venkat Mohan isn’t trying much here to give the movie his own interpretation. The change he has made in the film makes it even more sentimental and cheesier which may work for an audience that embraced the so-called family films like Viswasam and Kadaikkutty Singham. The formulaic way of including dance numbers, comedy tracks, etc are there to limit this as just another commercial movie. The story here is almost that custom justice theme which Shankar usually addresses in his films. The dosage of drama and heroism in those dramas are way too high and thus it is difficult to say that the climax will have the intended hard-hitting feel. The cinematography was fine while the edits at times faded out like censor cuts. The music isn’t particularly catchy barring the Tamil version of the Blockbuster song.
Ayogya is pretty much that replica remake. The “justice delayed is justice denied” part of the movie may make us a bit emotional as the news of frequent rapes has made us restless and agitated. But Ayogya is no Rang De Basanthi in terms of presentation and intensity of that issue.
Rating: 2.5/5
Made as the transformation story of a corrupt police officer, Ayogya is a problematic script that ultimately manages to be a passable mass masala entertainer.
Green: Recommended Content
Orange: The In-Between Ones
Red: Not Recommended
