Aaranya Kaandam (Tamil: ஆரண்ய
காண்டம்; English: Jungle
chapter; English title: Anima and Persona) is a 2011 Indian Tamil action
film, written and directed by newcomer Thiagarajan Kumararaja. It is supposedly
the first neo-noir film in Tamil cinema. The story takes place in a day
in the lives of the six protagonists, played by Jackie Shroff, Ravi Krishna,
Sampath Raj and newcomers Yasmin Ponnappa, Somasundaram and Master Vasanth.
Produced by S. P. B. Charan's Capital Film Works, the film features musical
score by Yuvan Shankar Raja and cinematography by P. S. Vinod and editing
handled by the duo Praveen K. L. and N. B. Srikanth.The film was launched on 18 December 2008, with its principal photography being completed by late 2009, which was followed by a lengthy post-production phase. It ran into difficulties as the regional censor board in Chennai raised objection against the film, giving it an adult rating besides demanding 52 cuts. After screening at and becoming approved by the Tribunal in Delhi, the film was released worldwide on 10 June 2011, to high critical acclaim.
It had its world premiere on 30 October 2010 at the South
Asian International Film Festival,[2] where it won the Grand Jury Award for
Best Film. Subsequently, the film was honored with two National Film
Awards for Best Editing and Best First Film of a Director category
respectively.
Story:
The film opens with the aging gangster, Singaperumal,
forcing himself on a young girl, Subbu. He is unable to perform, and vents his
anger by slapping the helpless Subbu. Singaperumal is the grand don of crime in
Madras. His lieutenant, Pasupathi, brings a proposal. A large stash of cocaine,
worth about 20 million rupees, has entered the city. The guy bringing the stash
wants to sell it for 5 million rupees. Pasupathi sees the immediate easy
profit, as well as the long term benefit (to control the cocaine market with
such a large supply) and the recognition that they are able to pull off such a
deal. The drawback is that the stash really belongs to their arch rival
Gajendran. Singaperumal knows that Gajendran is a vicious and unpredictable
adversary, and the venture is risky and likely to become messy. He decides to
pass. Pasupathi dourly suggests Singaperumal is getting old and rusty. He asks
Singaperumal to loan him the five million so he can do the job himself.
Pasupathi is prepared to face the risks, and in return for the loan, he offers
Singaperumal a cut of the profits. Singaperumal agrees to the loan, but,
instead asks Pasupathi to first get the stash and then think of the profit
distribution. The money for the loan is brought to Singaperumal.
The film introduces Kalaya, a now destitute farmer, and his
young, street-smart son Kodukapuli. They live in the slums and earn a meager
living staging cockfights; as a coincidence, Singaperumal loves to watch these
cockfights. One evening, a man arrives to bunk with Kalaya for the night. This
man is the cocaine courier. He routinely transports various stashes of drugs in
and out of the city, and collects a relatively small fee (10 thousand rupees)
for each trip. That evening, after a long bout of drinking, he reveals that he
has learnt the true value of the stash, and he now intends to sell it himself
instead of delivering it to its true owner. He passes out.
Seeing Subbu in tears, Singaperumal asks one of his men,
Sappai, to take her out and comfort her "so she is prepared to perform for
him at night". Sappai takes her to the beach and tries to console her.
Pasupathi and the men meet with the tipster and drive off to
retrieve the stash. En route in the car, one of the men receives a call from
Singaperumal, who orders him to bump off Pasupathi as soon as the stash is
acquired. Pasupathi overhears this as the call is on speaker mode and gets into
a Mexican standoff with others. In a desperate ploy he deliberately provokes a
cop at a checkpoint, getting arrested and then later making an escape . The
other men kidnap his wife, Kasturi, and use her as bait to lure Pasupathi.
Singaperumal orders them to bring Kasturi to him.
Subbu hates being a plaything for Singaperumal. She yearns
to be free and live life on her own terms. She tries to persuade Sappai to
think for himself and realize that Singaperumal is merely using them. Sappai,
however, is too fearful and weak to oppose Singaperumal. Subbu and Sappai
become unlikely lovers, and Subbu continues to hope for a way out. We learn
that Subbu is somewhat educated, and learns whatever she can about the world
outside Singaperumal.
Kalaya stages his cockfight the following day. But this
time, his prize cocks get killed. Kalaya is in serious financial trouble.
Kodukapuli senses this and immediately goes to see if their visitor, still
unconscious, has any money. They find out that the man had overdone his drink
and died. Kalaya and Kodukapuli find the cocaine stash and the telephone number
of a prospective buyer (Singaperumal and Pasupathi). Kalaya declares that his
financial woes are at an end.
Singaperumal is worried. His stash has not arrived, nor has
he got word that Pasupathi is dead. He gets an angry call from Gajapati
(Gajendran's right hand man): if Pasupathi seizes Gajapati's stuff, Gajendran
will unleash a terrible gang war. The cunning Singaperumal tells Gajapati that
Pasupathi has gone rogue, and that Gajapati is free to take out Pasupathi.
Singaperumal figures this will benefit him both ways: he will get the stash,
and his avaricious general will be killed by Gajendran. Gajendran sends his
thugs after Pasupathi. Pasupathi is on the run. Now that Singaperumal has
become his enemy, Pasupathi figures that Gajendran could possibly become an
ally.
Kalaya calls Singaperumal to meet and make a deal for the
stash. While waiting for him, Singaperumal's thugs arrive and kidnap Kalaya at
the rendezvous point. After continuous torture, Kalaya is unable to reveal
anything as his son Kodukapuli has the stash. Kodukapuli ends up calling Pasupathi's
number accidentally, and offers to trade the stash for his father. Pasupathi
joins Kodukapuli and offers the same trade to Singaperumal: the stash in return
for Kalaya and Kasturi. Pasupathi places a call to Gajendran and offers to
reveal the location of the stash.
Gajendran and his gang arrive at the location to make the
exchange with Pasupathi. Singaperumal's thugs also arrive at about the same
time. Pasupathi pretends to offer the stash to Gajapati, but instead slices his
throat right in front of Gajendran. An engraged Gajendran and his gang chase
Pasupathi. Pasupathi leads them around the block where Singaperumal's gang lay
waiting. Both gangs mistaking Pasupathi's loyalties charge at each other and
ensue in a gangfight. Pasupathi gets out of the fray, and watches as Gajendran
and the key generals of Singaperumal's hack each other to bits. Pasupathi's
plan to decimate the two strong factions has succeeded. He returns to finish
Singaperumal.
Back in his rooms, Singaperumal discovers that the bag with
the loan money is missing. He rushes to the conclusion that Sappai took it.
When Sappai returns (having been sent by Subbu to fetch fruits), Singaperumal
beats him up severely. Sappai's faith is shattered. In his first moment of
independence, hegrabs a pistol and shoots Singaperumal dead! Subbu emerges from
the shadows. She is proud of Sappai, but in a stunning twist, she shoots and
kills Sappai! When Pasupathi arrives, he finds Sappai and Singaperumal dead and
Subbu in tears. Having always been sympathetic to Subbu's suffering with
Singaperumal, he says she is free to go. Subbu leaves. Pasupathi summons the
remaining thugs of Singaperumal's gang and assumes command. Kasturi is
unharmed. Pasupathi gets the stash and pays Kodukapuli a fair commission.
It is finally revealed that Subbu had planned the whole
thing. She sent Sappai with the bag containing the loan money to provoke
Singaperumal's temper. She retrieves the bag with the loan money and quietly
leaves the city to begin her new life. She remarks that the men basically
mistrusted, misused and slaughtered each other. In her view, Sappai, too, was
not really an innocent victim. She says Sappai is also a man.but all men are
sappai (The word 'sappai' has varied meanings, but in this case, it means
insignificant to the point of being contemptuous). The film ends with her line:
The best thing about being a woman is that it’s a man’s world.