Aaram Aravinda Swamy movie review: Aniissh-led rom-com is quite drab

2/5

Aaram Aravinda Swamy movie story: Aravinda Swamy (Aniissh), a loan recovery agent for a motor vehicle financier, just about manages a hand-to-mouth existence, but his rich-and-sorted public façade masks this private struggle. Aravinda, as it turns out, pretends to be this well-to-do guy with no worries in the world for the benefit of his girlfriend of 6 years Geetha (Milana Nagaraj), a primary schoolteacher.

When Geetha begins exerting pressure on Aravinda to have the parents meet and take their relationship to the next level, he does what he always does and goes into hiding for a few days, back home with his folks. The trip, though, has consequences that change his life irrevocably.

Aaram Aravinda Swamy is Aniissh’s attempt at doing a ‘different’ film Aaram Aravinda Swamy is Aniissh’s attempt at doing a ‘different’ film  

Aaram Aravinda Swamy movie review: In his quest for a subject that would be a stark departure from the routine commercial fare he’d been dabbling with, Aniissh picked one that had no action and punchlines, but still had song-and-dance to showcase his mean moves, romance, emotions and comedy. What he’s left with, though, is not the most engaging or entertaining.

Director-actor Abhishek Shetty, who’d written this script for himself but then made the film with Aniissh, spends a good part of the first half in establishing how Aravinda creates his public image of opulence, with the actual story revolving around his trip home and a promise that his father makes to his employer.

Milana’s character is, supposedly, a Bengaluru Malayali, who speaks fluent Kannada than Malayalam (she utters a few words in a sequence); a character trait that we shall overlook based on actor Nithya Menen’s declaration of belonging. That she sports a tiny sandalwood paste tilak above her bindi, is supposed to be the tell that she isn’t Kannadiga.

It’s a weakly written character too – not only does she put up with Aravinda’s incessant lying, but also the flippancy he displays when she demands commitment from him. For what it’s worth, the actress looks fabulous, even when kitted out in simple sarees.

Hrithika Srinivas gets the raw end of the stick in the proceedings – her character’s got a limp and is speech-impaired, so the brief was to sport puppy eyes throughout and little else. The rest of the cast, including Aniissh, Achyuth Kumar, etc., are adequate, but don’t offer anything worth writing home about.

Aaram Aravinda Swamy’s Milana Nagaraj on career choices she has had to make 

Aaram Aravinda Swamy movie verdict: Aniissh and Abhishek’s obsession with the title leads to everything else about the film becoming an afterthought. Force-fitting a Pattaya song in the narrative is not going to solve this issue.