Ashakal Aayiram movie review: Jayaram, Kalidas Jayaram-starrer is undone by melodrama | Movie-review News

The two insiders of the family have gotten used to Asha (Asha Sharath) – wife to dad, mother to son – being the peacemaker. Although the woman gets very little of her own into the discussion, she still duly sides with her son and simultaneously offers to put some sense into him for the father’s sake. The fourth member and the daughter of the family is barely visible in the equation, nor is she ever summoned to play a part.

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There is a palpable yesteryear feel to Ashikal Aayiram, especially in the way the interpersonal dynamics are treated. Hariharan’s weary demeanour – completed by his plain attire and a weathered motorcycle – is sure to elicit the father figure that South Indian cinema unmissably featured until very recently. Ajeesh’s own life of cash-strapped existence and tall desires is reminiscent of the said category’s male protagonist.

The classic bickering, too, finds its place, and a good chunk of the first half follows a familiar routine of a father and son not getting along. But, just as things threaten to be too predictable, Jude Anthany Joseph and Aravind Rajendran’s script pulls out a neat little trick to subvert our expectations. What if the father were to adopt his son’s dream and even start to realise it? The answer is found not so easily, but through a long journey that involves self-discovery as well as love and respect for one another.

The film’s best portion arrives as the setup to this journey, and the amusing part is that it is kicked off inadvertently by a most entitled and insecure superstar actor (named Sumith Raghavan, played by Sharaf U Dheen). What seems to be innocuous at first ends up being quite momentous in the lives of the Hariharan family, and what follows that incident is a game of one-upmanship between the father and son. It is obvious that there could be no clear winner in a scenario such as this, and Ashakal Aayiram does well in tracing how male egos and long-suppressed passions shape these confrontations.

It is in veteran actor Jayaram’s favour that the story grants his character the most emotional heft. Hariharan’s arc is filled with relatable moments ranging from parental anger and frustration to personal aspirations, and so much more in between. The 60-year-old eases through the performance that is asked to portray a bit too much, but never does he suggest that he is out of the groove. Even the over-sentimental bits are deftly handled by him.

Kalidas Jayaram, on the other hand, gets slightly shortchanged with his Ajeesh. The character lacks the depth that Hariharan boasts, and while he undergoes a significant arc on paper, the writing never allows the essence of that growth to fully register. Kalidas gets the mandatory monologue to close things off, but it still doesn’t suffice in leaving a strong impression. Asha Sharath holds her own, despite being undermined by the script.

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Yet, Ashakal Aayiram doesn’t manage to make the most of its strong central idea. As much as the first half sails smoothly, the second half comes undone because of unimaginative writing that veers prominently towards melodrama. What should have been a study of conflict between generations is soon turned into a messy saga of sacrifices, secrets and whatnot. Superstar Sumith’s heightened interest in this father-son relationship comes across as far-fetched, and some of the revelations about characters’ pasts are overly convenient. Even the outsider-insider stance that the film takes in the climactic portion feels out of place.

Ashakal Aayiram had all the ingredients to be a crafty entertainer, but it gets overridden by sappiness. It still has many fun moments scattered across its crisp runtime, and those alone could make up for the unevenness in the narrative.