7aam Arivu - 6.5/10 - 7aam Arivu as promised managed to deliver a strong message weaved with a sturdy historic story. Certainly any 'Tamilan' who watches this film, can feel the pride of knowing about an ancestor like Bodhidharman. A.R.Murugadoss have caught such a solid premise and the initial 20 minutes of the film really sets the tone really big.
However, what makes it fall apart is the weak and unfocused screenplay which often slips out of the main objective of the story. Badly placed songs and redundant love track (which comes immediately after the epic 20 minutes start), are some of the examples of the wandering screenplay. The vision of the director and what he wanted to tell the world is very clear by just seeing the visuals and the central plot itself, therefore some of the preachy dialogues could be avoided. In addition, Harris Jeyaraj - Murgadoss combination is surprisingly missing in this film.
On the brighter side, 7aam Arivu boasts with good use of technicality. Be it Ravi Varman's subtle yet epic cinematography or Rajeevan's grand art direction, they impress to the core, enhancing the story. All the actors score well in their given role but the real scene stealer is Johnny Tri Nguyen who casually cake-walks his role with such a majestically menacing posture. However the over use of 'Nokku Varmam' by the character rips the whole genuine feel of the art.
As expected by many, 7aam Arivu might not be a next Ghajini but really scores in the originality and the patriotic feel towards the Tamil. In overall 7aam Arivu is not a disappointing fare but not a remarkable one either.