Sunday Times (Johannesburg) - February 2, 2008

His second film, Mirugam, was steeped in controversy before its release because of the in-famous incident when he slapped lead actress Padmapriya on the set. It took some serious lobbying by Sami to prevent the movie from being shelved.

Mirugam reveals some good ideas and intentions, but it is not without flaws, both major and minor.

Set in the mid-1980s, it tackles a brave theme. Ayyanar (newcomer Aadhi) lives the life of an animal. He has no respect for himself or anybody else and lives by his instincts.

Ayyanar thinks nothing of using brute force, not hesitating even to beat his mother. He satis- fies his animal-like sexual desires by visiting prostitutes and raping housewives. With no redeeming qualities, his is a despicable character.

When he sees Azhagamma (Padmapriya), he is intoxicated by her youthfulness and beauty and resolves to marry her. True to character, he rapes her on their wedding night, getting his sadistic high from the violence and cruelty.

When Azhagamma learns of his sad past, her revulsion for him is replaced with pity and a strong desire to reform him.

However, just as she is beginning to make some headway, the matter is taken out of her hands when Ayyanar is arrested and imprisoned.

In prison, Ayyanar succumbs to drugs and in- dulges in a homosexual relationship. When he is released, he is infected with HIV, which develops into Aids as he becomes Tamil Nadu's first victim of the disease. The remainder of the movie focuses on how Ayyanar and Azhagamma deal with the situation.

The pace of the first half is laboured, which is not helped by the fact that the protagonist is someone to whom it is almost impossible for the audience to relate.

While his past partly explains his behaviour, a chunk of his life appears to be missing, con- veniently omitted by the director. Regrettably, Sami also uses melodrama to drive home some of the movie's points.

In terms of mood, atmosphere and style, Mirugam bears a strong resemblance to Am- eer's Paruthi Veeran, and one wonders whether this is purely accidental. Even the character played by Padmapriya is similar to Priyamani's character in Paruthi Veeran. The difference is that the latter movie was strongly credible, which Mirugam cannot lay claim to.

Newcomer Aadhi gives an impressive and brave performance, considering that he plays one of Tamil cinema's most negative pro- tagonists.

Padmapriya handles her role well but would have been more impressive had she resisted the melodramatic.

Ganja Karruppu is at times tolerable, but the length of his role makes it an ordeal to watch him, especially in the scenes in which he attempts to be humorous.

The background score by Sabesh and Muralli is impressive, but none of the songs is either melodious or memorable.

The film's main problem is that the sexual references are all gratuitous and are there purely for commercial reasons. It is not a film that a family can watch together, but it is ess- ential viewing because of its powerful message.

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