Saw this movie last night, still feeling the kick as of this morning. The film sure leaves an impression on you, good or bad, the way you take it.
This is the 5th film from Selvaraghavan and the budget is whooping 32 crores. You will know why they spent so much once you see the movie. The heroines of the movie Reema Sen and Andrea Jeremiah did justice to their roles and sure looks HOT. Coming to the Hero of the movie, Karthik Sivakumar.He is the younger son of veteran actor Sivakumar and brother of Surya and also best known for his critically acclaimed performance as the title character in his debut film Paruthiveeran in 2007, for which he received the Best actor Film fare award. A little interesting fact about Karthik, after returning from US to INDIA, he got to meet noted director Mani Ratnam, who initially offered him to act in the film Aayutha Ezhuthu, in which he should essay the role of Arjun (later played by Siddarth). But Karthi instead joined him as an assistant director for the same film and its for Hindi version YUVA, since he always wanted to become a film director and preferred direction to acting.
Well coming to the movie plot, it's about the age old rivalry between Chola's & Pandya's and how the present day pandya descendants save their sacred idol by defeating the chola's.
The film begins with a folk street play showing the last period of the Chola king's reign. Then we are taken to A.D. 1279, where the death of the Chola dynasty seems imminent and people are being driven out of their kingdom by the Pandya's in southern India. To escape from them and save the life of his successor, the Chola emperor sends his son, along with his people to a secret territory unknown to his enemies. The Chola's also take away with them an idol sacred to the Pandya's, which angers them even more. To capture the escaped Chola prince and to retrieve their Sacred idol, the Pandya's extend their invasion to the unexplored territories, but eventually fail.
Several centuries later in 2009, Indian archaeologists continue searching for the existence of the lost Chola group based on clues left by the ancient Pandyan warriors. But all the archaeologists, who attempt to search for the secret land disappear during the search missions. Archaeologist Chandramouli (Pratap Pothan) is the most recent person to have reportedly traced the empire but he also fails to return from his mission.
The Indian government organizes a search expedition led by officer Anitha Pandiyan (Reema Sen) to find Chandramouli and the Chola Empire with assistance from the Indian army led by Ravisekharan (Azhagam Perumal). They meet archaeologist Lavanya (Andrea Jeremiah), the estranged daughter of the missing archaeologist Chandramouli, and she assists Anitha and gives crucial documents prepared by her father on the Chola dynasty with instructions on the route to reach the destination. She also joins the expedition since her insight is considered essential for the success of the project.Along with the army, Anitha employs a group of porters headed by Muthu (Karthi Sivakumar), to transport the baggage during the journey. The crew embark on a voyage leading them to an island, Min-gua, near Vietnam. Here they are faced with the seven traps set by the Cholas: sea creatures, cannibals, warriors, snakes, hunger, quick sand and a village.
Many porters and army men are killed on their way.Muthu, Anitha and Lavanya get separated from the others. They reach the ruins of a village where they get subjected to black magic. They nearly go mad before finally reaching the secret hideout of the Chola dynasty. The three of them find an ethnic isolated primitive Tamil group ruled by a Chola king (Parthiban). The king and his people are in hiding, awaiting the arrival of the messenger whom they believe will bring glory and prosperity back to their land and lead them back to their motherland. The king and the priest consult the Gods for omens and order Muthu, Anitha and Lavanya to be burnt alive as sacrifice to their gods.At this point, Anitha tells the king that she is the messenger he has been eagerly awaiting, sent from the homeland. Muthu and Lavanya are taken as slaves. Anitha is given a chance to prove herself asthe messenger. She tries to seduce the king and convinces the Chola king to heed her message - to march towards the homeland two days from then with his people and he would be crowned a proper king. He suspects her since none of Anitha's actions match the qualities of the messenger described by his ancestors and ancient paintings - the messenger will be ill-treated at first, but will eventually help out the local tribe and, also his arrival will be preceded by hail.
Anitha drugs the priest and poisons the water sources. She catches a glimpse of the Pandyas' sacred idol and leaves, finally exposing her identity as a descendant of the Pandya Dynasty. For generations, her race has been trying to find the whereabouts of the Chola prince and his people who escaped with the idol. The central minister who sponsors the expedition also is shown to be of Pandyan descent. The Chola king is shattered for having believed in Anitha as his true messenger. Anitha, with Ravishekaran, gathers an army and assaults the hidden kingdom. The Chola's are at war once again with the Pandya's. In due course, the king finds that Muthu is the true messenger - the chosen one who would save the Chola's from the clutches of Anitha and the army.They fight bravely but the Cholas lose and are taken prisoners. Their women are molested and raped by the army and the king is killed. The men drown in the seas. The story ends with Muthu saving the Chola prince. Thus the successor of the Chola dynasty is brought back to India by the messenger as predicted.
The scenes i liked especially are:
1. Quick sand escape in big shadow (Nataraja Idol)
2. Fight scene between Gaint and Karthik with the chain ball
3. Dancing fight sequence between Reema & Parthiban
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