Amaran Review: Sivakarthikeyan and Sai Pallavi shine in Rajkumar Periasamy’s well-crafted tribute to the armed forces

Amaran review: Working on a biopic is difficult, but working on a biopic about an Indian Army major who died in battle to save his own is much more difficult. Director Rajkumar Periasamy has taken it upon himself to bring to the big screen the life of Major Mukund Varadarajan, an Ashoka Chakra recipient who died in an encounter with terrorists in Shopian, Kashmir. The director read about him in the book India’s Most Fearless: True Stories of the Modern Army (Shiv Aroor and Rahul Singh). Any film that talks about the Indian Army and focuses on a soldier always brings patriotism to the forefront and gives a lot of goosebumps. Amaran is no different. Sivakarthikeyan and Sai Pallavi give superb performances as Major Mukund and his wife Indhu Rebecca Varghese respectively in this intense emotional drama. (Also read: Amaran Twitter Review: Fans are delighted with Sivakarthikeyan’s transformation and Sai Pallavi’s performance)

What is Amaran about?

Mukund Varadarajan was named after Lord Krishna by his father when he was born, but little did his parents know that their son would actually go to the battlefield with his men. While Mukund’s mother is paranoid about him joining the army, his father advises him to pursue his passion. While he is studying for his BA in Chennai and preparing for SSC, he meets Indu College classmate Rebecca Varghese and a romance ensues. Her Malayali parents are against her marrying someone from the army and avoid all talk about it, while Mukund’s parents treat her like a daughter and look after her when Mukund gets his first posting.

After four years of courtship, Indhu’s parents agree to the marriage and the couple happily begins their life together. However, not everything is so simple, given that Mukund’s messages allow him to travel around India and the world, visiting very important places. It is when Mukund becomes the head of the Rashtriya Rifles in Kashmir that his purpose in life becomes more defined and we see numerous tense meetings and missions that he and his team are involved in.

In the first half, the director takes us through Mukund and Indhu’s early romantic days and his joining the army and the second half gets extremely emotional considering what eventually happens.

What works

When director Rajkumar contacted Sivakarthikeyan and Sai Pallavi for the lead roles, half the battle was won as these two fine performers truly brought Mukund and Indhu to life on screen. The wonderful chemistry between them comes to the fore in very subtle scenes, be it playful and romantic or serious and emotional. Acting comes very naturally to both Sivakarthikeyan and Sai Pallavi. However, one can also see the effort that Sivakarthikeyan has put into his physical transformation to look like any army man.

Rajkumar’s script highlights the vast emotional dilemmas and sacrifices that those serving in the army and their families go through. While the director has included several missions and encounters in the film, it often feels like he could have focused more on Major Mukund’s eight years in the army and weaved an emotional thread through it. This is probably due to the fact that the pace of the film is slow and the director takes his time to create the story. The point is that Major Mukund takes on the role of a fearless leader of the army but also a hero, arriving a little late. At no point does Rajkumar become a jingoist and that’s a plus – he keeps the story grounded and the free-flowing emotions hit you throughout the film.

Other actors like Rahul Bose, Bhuvan Arora, Geetha Kailasam, Lallu, Sreekumar and others make their mark in their small but important roles. Technically the film is excellent – background music and songs by G.V. Prakash add depth to this emotional film. At the same time, C. Sai’s cinematography (be it the scenes in Chennai or Kashmir) and R. Kalaivanan’s editing seem impeccable. Anbariv and Stefan Ritcher’s action sequences are well-done and there is a sense of realism to the scenes.

Final Thoughts

Amaran This is a wonderful tribute to those who serve in the military and their families, and a stark reminder that our freedom exists because of their sacrifices. You leave Amaran with a heavy heart for those who lost loved ones on the battlefield, and at the same time happy that their legacy will never remain unknown or immortalized on the silver screen thanks to directors like Rajkumar.