Prasanna and Sneha in Achamundu Achamundu (Pic courtesy Indiaglitz)

I watched “Achamundu Achamundu” over the weekend and I felt that it was a refreshing way of movie making by Arun Vaidyanathan. The movie deals about a sensitive theme which is rarely touched in Indian films. So it was actually a brave attempt by Arun to take up such a subject and present it in a way which will not make the Indian audience uncomfortable. To be frank I am not a critic and I don’t want be one too. This is the first time I am writing about a movie on my blog.

The reason I wanted to write about this one is because of the close to reality presentation of our life in the US by the director. I was plainly irritated and frustrated by the way Bollywood has been depicting an NRI life on the screen in the past few years and I am happy that Arun Vaidyanathan has stuck close to reality. The interactions between the lead pair, Prasanna and Sneha were sweet and it reminds us of our day today life here in America.

The movie was a short one and except for the last 20 minutes or so there was not much action or any notable twists but the way the director moved the story along keeps us interested. After I finished watching the movie I was wondering how the director manages to make a 1 Hr 40 min movie with such a storyline which could have been a short film at best. The thing that works for Achamundu Achamundu is the realism. As a IT professional muself living in the US for the past 7 years, I could relate to the day to day activities of the lead pair in the movie.

The movie also deals with a subject that is rarely touched upon in Indian cinema. But the unfortunate thing for Arun will be that not many people will actually understand what John Shea’s character in the movie is in India. The educated audience might get the hang of it but I would feel that most of the Tamil audience might assume him to be a kidnapper at the best. Until the movie ends and the paper clippings are shown there might be a small confusion for the common man in India.

But as far as I am concerned the movie was fantastic. It kept me glued for the duration and even though the climax was rushed and finished abruptly the overall effort was commendable. Prasanna and Sneha performed brilliantly and gave a very subtle performance. Prasanna as an IT professional was convincing and so was Sneha as a house wife in the US. Arun couldn’t have picked a more appropriate cast for the movie.

The rest of the caste was adequate. John Shea as a child molester was wooden at most times but was adequate and so was the guy playing Prasanna’s friend. The girl who acted as the lead pair’s daughter was very good as a kid brought up in the US. The way Sneha keeps reminding her kid to talk in Tamil was sweet and reminds me of lots of parents here in the US who want their kids to stay in touch with their roots. The subtle things like that have made this movie different from the other NRI based movies.

All in all it was a wonderful effort and kudos to everyone who were involved in making this movie. I hope that Arun Vaidyanathan goes from strength to strength after this one and gets the right break he so richly deserves. As far as Prasanna and Sneha are concerned, they have once again proved that they are the two most natural actors in Tamil cinema.