But I couldn’t stop wondering that if the diminutive, almost inconsequential looking Murugadoss could have the vision to execute what I saw in the initial reels of 7 Aum Arivu, what stops the Hindi film industry from doing the same? That the Tamil film industry is technically at par with and organizationally miles ahead of its Hindi counterpart is no secret. Still, I couldn’t shake the first twenty minutes of the film from my head even hours after the screening.
Thereafter, however, the film nosedives into mediocrity like Ra.One’s second week box-office collections. With the arresting visuals, impressive production and VFX, and a unique concept with roots in history, the opening reels of the film laid a promising foundation for a smart, action-packed sci-fi thriller. How much of it was actually post-production would make an interesting topic for a debate though. Every grain on the surface of the film stock used seemed to have been milked for whatever it was worth, to produce some exquisite shots, used primarily in montage. Chandran’s cinematography in these portions can only be described as stunning. Set just centuries after Christ in ancient India and China, the film opens almost like a documentary on the origins of the Shaolin clan.