Aadhavan

“Aadhavan” (2009) is a Kollywood action-comedy film directed by K. S. Ravikumar. Starring Suriya, Nayantara, and Vadivelu, the film follows a contract killer who hides inside a judge’s house to execute a mission, only to discover a surprising connection to his past.

Aadhavan is a wonderful crack sharpshooter and the only son of a little mafia chief called Ibrahim. Having carried out a string of high-profile international hits, he takes on a lucrative contract from Indian tech millionaire Dr Abdul Kulkarni to kill Judge Subramaniam, who is presiding over a high-profile child trafficking case. After one unsuccessful one too many, Aadhavan takes matters into his own hands and even more audaciously infiltrates the judge’s home, posing as a servant. Once inside the compound, he gets to work ingratiating himself and winning trust, not the least of which is from Subramaniam’s niece Thara. Despite his repeated attempts to murder the judge, he is stopped at every turn. While on a family vacation in Darjeeling, a bomb he’s been hiding accidentally goes off, arousing Thara’s suspicions. To keep her from becoming suspicious, Aadhavan tells her that he is the judge’s long-lost son, Madhavan.

In a particularly dark turn, through a useful flashback, we learn that an adolescent Madhavan killed several people at Thara’s birthday party after he accidentally detonated a bomb. Traumatised, he ran away from the family and was eventually adopted by Ibrahim. As the now plays out, Thara starts to buy Aadhavan’s narrative. Things come to a boiling point when Ibrahim’s biological son Tharani first arrives on the scene, wreaking havoc and resulting in an explosive police standoff. In the end, Aadhavan finds out who he really is, plays a major role in taking down the whole criminal hierarchy, and spends time in prison for his crimes. Subramaniam forgives him, and Aadhavan is ultimately embraced back into the Subramaniam family.

“Aadhavan” is a commercial package that successfully amalgamates action, comedy and drama together. With his star charisma, Suriya makes it look easy, dazzling in high emotional peaks and low comic valleys alike, and Vadivelu brings everyday comic relief from the absurd and frustrating to the show. Director K. S. Ravikumar expertly balances suspense with family sentiment, setting up a sprawling, entertaining and colourful film that keeps you engaged until the last moment.