Review of Citizen (Ayngaran International)

Introduction

Citizen was to be the Indian summer movie of 2001 and was released with great fanfare and with much hype. With many promos, campaigns and making of features to match Hollywood`s big summer releases it was hard not to miss the mention of this big budget movie by film fans and celebrities. Also the critical and financial success of the action movie Dheena (2000) that stared Ajith Kumar created much more expectations for the film Citizen.

But after viewing this film on cinema it was a sorely missed opportunity of what could have been the best Indian film of 2001. The plot idea is not as unique as it much resembles the 1996 box office hit `Indian/Hindustani` which had an older village man killing government official`s for being corrupt. Here it is a young man with many masks who goes on kidnapping three government officials. The handling of the kidnapping situations are rather weak plotted and too cinematic. But the investigation into the kidnapping and of the lost village is done with tremendous accuracy and in a realistic fashion and is the second reason to viewing this film. (I will mention the first reason later on in this review).

The disguise the character Abdualla uses to perform his crimes are rather poor and at times are not as smooth or as realistic as the director wants us to think. Some extensive work on the masks used could have improved them a whole lot more. Also the fight sequences are somewhat a mixed bag. While the punches and kicks are done in immaculate timing and with much excitement, the special affects of the character flying in the air, similar to sequences seen in Blade (1998) & The Matrix (1999), are done with crass CGI. It would have been better if wirework were employed as it were in their Hollywood counterparts. Another weakness in the fight sequences asks the questions as to why was the character of Abdualla wearing fangs similar to the ones worn in the film Blade, was he disguised as a vampire as well? Or did the filmmakers wanted to copy 100% of the fight scene from Blade?

There are various loopholes in the plots that further highlight the film weak spots like the poor love story with Indhu, played by Vasundra Das, and how the foster father survives Atthipatti? But with much weakness comes a couple major reasons why to see this film. Firstly the excellent acting from the cast members Ajith Kumar & Naghma. While Ajith dons on a double role as father and son, Naghma portrays an authoritarian CBI officer with much conviction.

But with Naghma a slight problem occurs not by her acting but by the choice of her voice dubbed artiste, who sound much older and coarser then anticipated and is off key. This makes viewing seem harder for the audiences as we expect Naghma`s original voice. The filmmakers must have felt that her own voice wouldn`t have convinced the audience that she is a strict and hard CBI officer and thus choice a dubbed artist. But for me it fails as the dubbed artiste is not suitable and hampers on Naghma`s fine performance.

Ajith Kumar excels mostly as the role of the father who plays a village fisherman. His dialect and make up work is realistic here and convincing. The downfall of his character is something audiences won`t ever forget partly due to the fine performance he displays. As Abdualla he has not much to do other then the final court scene, which proves a wonderful turning point in the film. The make up work for Meena is also very refreshing and real as a village woman, and her performance is greatly matched.

Supporting cast display acting skills in fashion much suited to the script. Vasundra Das performance is the weakest part in the film largely due to her role which is nothing more then a woman to fall in love with the main male character, and to appear in a couple of song sequences. It would have been better if these sequences were changed so that the film solely concentrates on main plot of the film.

Technical values are presented in a high specification that is captured on screen with skill and growing signs of professionalism in the Indian film industry. The music score by Deva are average but the last song `Merke Uthitha` is the track that is his best work of the year. The background music score done by his younger brothers are also composed in tune with what occurs on the screen.

Finally a mention should go to the reason as to why the main character kidnaps the government officials. The reason, which is anticipated for during the duration of the movie, lives up to the expectations of the viewer and occurs near the end of the movie. It is told in harrowing way that will affect the anticipated audiences, and the way the young child is saved is beautifully handled with emotions and tears.

Credit should go to both the art director and cinematographer who capture on film what we leave with from the cinema (I`m sure the director was more then satisfied with their work). I won`t reveal what occurs as these scenes are best left for audiences to experience themselves but I can tell you that it is worth viewing, including the scenes in which Abdualla has his important say in court about citizenship (though human rights activist and others might think this as wrong).

The film does have its excellent plus points and on that basis is worth the box office sensation it has created in south India, and is about to create with a Hindi remake to be made and released in 2004. But the director should learn from the big mistakes he made in this film and will hopefully create another action film that will further improve on his skills as a storyteller on celluloid.

Video

The DVD is presented in a widescreen aspect ratio of 2.25:1, which has been anamorphically transferred. As with most Ayngaran DVD`s some slight cropping is involved on this disc as it is not presented in its full aspect ratio of 2.45:1. An example of cropping problems can be seen during the credits sequences at the start of the film where the end of the names are chopped off. The cropping is not as bad as I might make it out to be as the majority of what occurs within the frame is covered well. But Ayngaran must really begin to present their films in their original aspect ratio so the whole frame is covered without any cropping problems.

Being a recent film not much wear and tear is to be found on this disc, with only a couple of scenes having a major rip within the film, most noted one is when the excellent CGI graphics of the title "Citizen" appears. Some minor white dots appear in minor places during the duration of the film but it is not as distracting as previous Ayngaran titles. The film looks fresh and is very clean and these little blemishes never distract from the viewing experience. The transfer was made from an interpositive 35mm print onto a DLT tape, so quality of the DVD is high indeed, which is quite an exception since the entire disc was done in India, who haven`t had a good history when it comes to the DVD format (namely with EROS titles).

The DVD has no major problems regarding compression artefacts or of grain. Shimmering is also kept to a minimal and is showing signs of begin eliminated on future Ayngaran titles. Edge enhancements are seen in places creating a white halo effect, but this is not as bad as other Indian DVD`s on the market. What I love about this disc the wonderful sharpness and accuracy the colours are depicted making it just as good as cinema viewing. Never was there a colour-bleeding problem or was there any distortion. It is exceptional work on the telecinist behalf, my complements indeed.

Picture information is a marvel to view as much detail in complex situations like the rain, small texts on the letter, the sea village, and even complex shots of the fight sequences can be seen in full detail. But the details can be too good as mistakes on the film makers part can also be seen including the poor make up work, and the poor CGI shot.

Dark details are also decent; it was further decreased in tone so that the dark scenes can be seen more clearly for home viewing. An example of the excellent dark scenes can be found during chapters 1 when in the forest & chapter 18 when on the boat. Contrast was also well balanced and presented, never begin too bright or dull.

Audio

The Dolby Digital 5.1 Tamil soundtrack is again the reason why Ayngaran have now become one of the top Indian DVD company when presenting 5.1 soundtrack from a DTS film. This is reference quality at its best with 360 degrees soundfield to be amazed at, and precise placements of sound effects during the whole viewing of the film. The LFE channel is also much active especially during the action and song scenes. It is clear, precise and thunderous in one. What is amazing is that they have caught the excellent bass detail normally heard on a DTS track within this Dolby Digital 5.1 track. Whatever hardware they are using it is certainly one all other DVD companies should invest in getting.

Features

The menus are okay, but so much potential could have been done for this DVD. The box designs are rather poor while there is no supplements material, which seems odd for a big movie like this one. This film had so much promos, decent making of features, and other press materials to support the film that would have looked cool on a separate disc. Also since the film was successful Ayngaran could have issued a documentary on the making of the film or a commentary track. But alas it was not meant to be.

There was also the issue of the director having to cut 10mins from the film before its cinema release, as the duration was quite long. It would have been excellent if Ayngaran could have got the producer & director to use these scenes on the DVD under a deleted scenes section.

The English subtitles are the only extra feature we have and at times it is too fast to read. Their grammar work and type font they use still needs re-working.

Conclusion

The picture and sound quality is very much high, and impressive. But Ayngaran must begin to improve on their presentation of the box designs (using better photocells) and creating special features on a separate disc.