Aviyal Review – Aviyal is a Tamil anthology film released in 2016. This movie is a bouquet of four Tamil short films directed by different directors.

Anthology films are a boon to the film industry for multiple reasons. It gives opportunities for new talents to work with well-established artists. It also gives opportunities for well-established artists to experiment something new with a lesser risk compared to a full-length feature film. Aviyal is one such movie. Although the plot lines are something we might have seen or heard before, the treatment is fresh. Each of the four stories engages well with the audience. And as a special treat, the last one is directed by Alphonse Putharen starring Nivin Pauly and Bobby Simha.  I couldn’t pinpoint one movie to be better than the other as all the stories were equally good.

Indian government should support such anthology films to help identify and nurture new talents. This also serves as a platform to test some new treatment and genres with the audience, which can go a long way in making the quality of films better and profitable.

High Points: Short and enjoyable tale with a good sense of humor, Good performances from some of the new-comers. The short film by Alphonse Putharen starring Nivin Pauly and Bobby Simha stands out due to the star cast and narrative style.

Low Points: The movie was promoted with Nivin Pauly and Bobby Simha so people coming in for them would be disappointed as they feature only in the last film. The length of the movies could have been maintained at 20 mins to make it more engaging.

Overall Aviyal is tasty with all vegetables cooked well to give some true flavours. It also stays true to its recipe by not including too much masala. Support good cinema and budding talents by watching this one.

Worth a Watch