7Aam Arivu

Suriya, A.R Murugadoss and Harris Jayaraj are the trio who gave us the unforgettable hit "Ghajini", and now they are out with another new concept in storytelling, "7aum Arivu", or "7th Sense".

During the 6th century, the reigning Great Prince Bodhidharman (Suriya), travels to China to help the poor and innocent people from ailing diseases, as well as imparts to them his vast knowledge of martial arts and medicine. But one day, he passes away and the people cremate him there. Centuries later, appears Aravind (Suriya), a circus artist who falls for Shuba (Haasan), a scientist who is doing research on Bodhidharman's DNA and wishes to bring him back, using Aravind. Meanwhile the Chinese Government assigns Dong Lee (Nguyen) to assassinate Shuba in order to stop her from continuing her research and as well to start a Bio-war called 'Operation-Red'. What happens next is a game of cat and mouse between the good guys and bad guys.

No doubt the film strength lies on Suriya's performance as both Bodhidharman and Aravind. He has once again proved his that he has the hard work and determination to properly portray his character on the silver screen. Shruti Haasan looks pretty and refreshing, but seemed quite unsure of her character and her Tamil accent makes her sound like she was struggling to speak the dialogue properly. Both Suriya and Shruti's chemistry could have been better portrayed. Johnny Tri Nguyen as the silent bad guy works well, especially during the action sequences.

Harris Jeyaraj's music is above average and occasionally, he manages to come up with few good tunes like "Oh Ringa" and "Yellea Lama". Peter Hein's gripping action choreography was well staged, especially during the chase scenes in second half of the film, which involves a hypnotized civilian attacking the hero, flying vehicles crashing and ultimately, the final showdown between Suriya and Johnny Tri Nguyen. The special effects are also well-employed, and help to support the action sequences. Ravi K.Chandran's cinematography was awesome especially the scenes involving China's landscapes.

Murugadoss deserves special praises for choosing the unique concept of Bodhidharman, and it is clear that he conducted a lot of research on the subject. The introduction of Bodhidharman's history is refreshing and interesting, but the treatment of screenplay does not make it especially engrossing, partly because they added unnecessary sad songs in-between. Overall it is an enjoyable piece of entertainment that delivers a good message in the end.