Madhumitha, a coder in a gaming company, believes she has memory (only those of courtships, though) from her previous births. Her colleague Ashwin resembles her partner from those births & they fall for each other. As Ashwin tries to prove all of this is her own imagination, her version is corroborated with her information from memory providing cues to unearthing (literally!) a pending case from 18 years back! Was she imagining things? Did she have mystic powers? Answers pour out in the climax.
Language:
Tamil
Running Time:
160 min
Rating:
U
Release date:
13 February 2015
Directed by:
K. V. Anand
Produced by:
Kalpathi S Aghoram
Kalpathi S Ganesh
Kalpathi S Suresh
Written by:
K. V. Anand
Subha
Starring:
Dhanush
Amyra Dastur
Karthik
Aishwarya Devan
Ashish Vidyarthi
Jagan
Mukesh Tiwari
Thalaivasal Vijay
Music by:
Harris Jayaraj
Shot by:
Om Prakash
Editing by:
Anthony
Distributed by:
AGS Entertainment
Wunderbar Films

What’s Hot

  • KV Anand & his team of writers Subha must have had a good time discussing Anegan in the drawing rooms. The thematic line of the film fits very well to a fantasy ride Tamil Cinema doesn’t often get from its mainstream directors. Ideas like reincarnation & work-stress offer interesting lines of premise
  • Credits again to the writers for trying to keep the heroine the hub & others the spokes around her, irrespective of the film being a mass-hero driven commercial vehicle
  • Amyra Dastur has made an impressive debut and has handled a plump heavy-weight role offered to her with good valor. Dhanush plays foil for a good half of the film & in the other half where he is in the driver’s seat, he provides moments of entertainment (his gimmicks as Kaali & in the Imitation of Karthik’s voice in the climax etc.)
  • Karthik, as the boss of a gaming company, doesn’t look artificial & that is thanks to his ability to carry off the suave role with elegance. The fact that his character is let down in the later portions is an unfortunate truth.
  • KV Anand has always been a ‘smart’ director. He makes us see what he wants us to see in his films & here too, with sets from 1960s & 1980s, the attention to detail the crew has shown is at the forefront. Props to Art Director Kiran for the Burma sets, the Ship, re-creation of 80s Vyasarpaadi & the display of books and medicines in Madhumitha’s house. Om Prakash’s camera plays its role in making some of the above-listed things look the way they were
  • Harris Jayaraj’s Dangamaari propelled the film’s visibility before the release & his music has done the same to the film at some important moments. An episode from the past is told through the catchy song Roja Kadale (whose music seems to have been heavily inspired by Rahman’s Kilimanjaro from Enthiran)

What’s Not

  • While credit was given to KV Anand & writers for the premise, they would also need to bear the tirades of having succumbed to commercialization of the film & orphaning the very premise. The second half of the film is totally off track from the first because of this.
  • It is high time Tamil Cinema starts using less of ‘twists for twists sake’ & starts using them in screenplays only when necessary & not for success of films. The twist here can be compared to the twist from Biryani. There are too many revelations relying on ‘convenient coincidences’ that rush the film to an end making it look more like an F1 car crash than a climax.
  • The heroine is made to look like a hyper-active fool but if you can excuse that for her psychological situation, blame would then fall on the attempt at ‘trying’ to let the heroine play center stage ending with one half & a major portion of the second half explaining a story which sticks out from the film like how a half-cut branch would stick out from a tree.
  • Concepts like Reincarnation & mind-simulation get set up very well but go completely under-used or under-explained and that is a pity. The contemporary character Dhanush plays is very weak and has no big role in the scheme of things which is another dampener

Badges

Verdict

Verdict Stamp

Anegan initially takes us to dizzying heights with an interesting premise defined by fresh ideas loaded admirably on to the back of a female lead but when all of this takes backstage & the film takes a commercial route, disappointment hits & hits you hard because the fall is from quite a height.