Amaran Movie Review: Sivakarthikeyan And Sai Pallavi's Film Is An Heartfelt Tribute To The Army Men

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Amaran is a biographical war based drama based on Major Mukund Vardharajan a member of 44th Battalion of the Rashtriya Rifles who died in an encounter operation in Kashmir's Shopian district. The film directed and written by Rajkumar Periasamy helms the multiple phases of his journey from Madras Christian College to his rising ranks in the Indian Army. Sivakarthikeyan and Sai Pallavi lead as Mukund Vardharajan and Indhu Rebecca Varghese in this film making it more splendid and a movie that will always be remembered.

Mukund Vardharajan (Sivakarthikeyan) was named after Lord Krishna by his father when his born. A visit to a cadet in his 5th standard gives him the goal of becoming one of them. Little did his parents know that he will sure go on a battlefield and make them proud. Even though his mother Geetha is completely against him joining military she does not discourages him. While pursuing his bachelors in Madras Christian College he meets Indhu Rebecca Varghese (Sai Pallavi) and their romance begins. Like every other inter caste love story there is an opposition from her Malayali parents but Mukund's parents love and treat her as their child.

After 4 years of dating with the blessings of their families both Mukund and Indhu get married. The journey looks beautiful at first but with being constantly transferred to places it seems like not everything is easy. When Mukund gets accepted to the Rashtriya Rifles in Kashmir it seems like his purpose in life is truly met. From this moment the plot start becoming more tense and each second is filled with wide amount of emotions. With winning each battles and then loosing the people at battlefields each frame becomes more and more dramatic and gets us on a whirlwind of feelings.

One of the main highlights of the movie Amaran is the extensive emotional predicaments and the sacrifices described in the life of army. Even though the second half of the film feels like several encounters and missions shown director has weaved several moments together to create a emotional thread. But with each passing scenes the actions in the movie keep you at the edge of the seats. With every nail biting sequence the movie gets elevated and justifies the genre completely. With the plot pacing slowly while taking its own time the scenes feel natural and emotions keep hitting the right spots. 

With Sivakarthikeyan and Sai Pallavi as the lead of this movie director Rajkumar Periasamy has already won the battle half way. The chemistry between them is so sparkling that it seems they have brought Mukund and Indhu into life. With playing the rom com roles in movies he has come a long way in Amaran. His physical transformation and the restraint of emotions he has while playing Mukund is commendable. But after wearing uniform the restraint seems to be in the back seat with never missing a single beat.

Sai Pallavi is excellent as Indhu while being the bubbly and easy girl. But from the moment she meets Mukund it seems her journey takes a full circle. With being a army wife the emotions she portrays in those scenes where she cannot reach Mukund is mind blowing. The scene where in the middle of the call an attack happens that feels like breaking your heart into million pieces. With each bullets and screams it feels like you too are going to drown into tears. The control she shows where tears cannot flow even when she lost her love seems too real. Also the transition from Malayalam to Tamil seems easy for her and the way she calls Mukunthey is real cute.

Not to forget the team in Rashtriya Rifles. Each one of them feels like a perfect cast especially Bhuvan Arora the buddy of Mukund. He truly plays his part so effortlessly being the perfect support to the leader of battalion. Rahul Bose seems like a supportive boss who would do anything for the team. Geetha Kailasam as Geetha Vardharajan is the ideal choice to play the part. The cute antics of being the paranoid mother then being the jealous mom and later on being the supportive mother. To be honest every one seems to be the ultimate option.

When you watch a movie like this the beautiful scenes of the land of Kashmir and the streets of Chennai comes alive in front of your eyes. All the credit for those beautiful scenes in each frame goes to cinematographer CH Sai and the editor R Kalaivanan. Each scene feels like a shard of glass thrown back at you and all the praise goes to GV Prakash for his soul stirring BGM and songs. The action sequence by Anbariv and Stefan Richter (who has previously worked for Shershaah) feels too real giving you an extra adrenaline rush.

Amaran on the whole is a heartfelt tribute to all those unsung heroes whose names are not even remembered. It is a strong reminder of all the sacrifices the army and their family go through their entire life. With having regret for not watching Amaran on big screens to finally watching it on Netflix it almost feels like an heartwarming decision. Watch this forever long distance relationship like how Indhu says.