The law of averages has finally caught up with Rajesh-Santhanam team. All in All Azhaguraja, the combo’s fourth film together, falls flat on its face. And the laugh is on the audiences, as it is an ordeal to sit through this profoundly irritating film.
The trouble with AAA is that it lacks basic storyline and took the audiences for granted. The film has no real script to speak of, at best a skeletal plot. To criticise the film’s script is to assume that there was one to begin with. Rajesh probably scribbled it on a toilet paper after getting Karthi’s dates and decided to make a fun movie to release on a Diwali weekend.
The film is centred around Azhaguraja (Karthi), his friend and adviser Kalyanam(Santhanam) who runs a little known TV channel. He falls head over heels for at first sight with Devi Priya (Kajal Aggarwal) daughter of a rich businessman and the rest of the story is how he wins her in the end after a long flashback set in 80’s and a dull climax.
The screenplay goes from one stupid gag to another, one set-piece to another and at the end of it we get a feeling that no one connected with it loved what they were doing. The look and feel of the film is tacky.
Karthi is the only reason you’re willing to give this film a chance. How you wish he had used his popularity and clout to do better films. He looks completely uncomfortable doing comedy and he has to realize that by just putting up with a stupid grin on his face can’t make people laugh!
Kajal is an eyesore in every sense of the word – her costumes are bad and make-up is patchy. Her character is weak and she comes across as an irritating stupid girl. Santhanam is getting so predictable and in-your-face and Rajesh’s idea to make him Kareena Chopra misfires big time. Your heart sinks when you see actor like MS Bhaskar wasted in a thankless supporting role. The hummable numbers of Thaman is wasted in some listless song picturisation.
In the end, All in All Azhaguraja is a dead zone of comedy, a major misfire in every way. When the lights come back on in the end, you leave the hall completely emotionless.