Eesan!

For any director,the real test is the second film.The first film is usually the culmination of years of hard work and thought process.The end-product may be short of technical brilliance but it will definitely have the heart at it's right place.Sasikumar shook the mindspace of the entire nation 3 years back with his phenomenal "Subramaniyapuram".Outlook's Namrata Joshi famously decreed that Subramaniyapuram deserved an Oscar than Slumdog Millionaire.
So,"Eesan" definitely has come as a rude wake-up call for Sasikumar and his fans.The movie portrays realistic sketches of the Chennai night life,nexus between business and politics(There is a Mallya look-alike who owns a three lettered sports team and strives to control the entire South India),uneasy relation between bureaucrats and politicians (The revelation that the CM believes an IAS officer to a minister is never-before-seen-in-Kollywood realism) till the point of intermission brilliantly.
But a movie is much more than realistic portrayals of pubs and hardpolitik.The first half travels without a purpose before culminating in a "araicha maavu" stuff of a guy seeking revenge for his raped sister.The second half feels like an entirely different movie.Random characters are introduced without following them to a suitable climax (the Mallya guy,lover of Vaibhav).
As soon as Abinaya's face is shown,we know the rest.It still perplexes why 35-odd minutes were wasted on a cliched episode.Like every other "those were happier times" flashback,we have a "pachai kiligal tholodu "-like song.(Yet another significant contribution by Shankar to Tamil Cinema.)The music is even more badly done considering the "Kangal irandal" days.The BGM score is so Harrish.
Sasikumar is the most luckiest guy in the industry.When people like Shyam and Arun Vijay struggle to make a mark even after learning all the tricks,he shot to fame and fandom.May be, he was overrated or he entered into unknown territory.Sasikumar half-succeeds in this Chennai trip but heart wishes that he had stayed back in Subramaniyapuram itself.
I remember reading somewhere that Sasikumar reads a lot of Tamil novels and classics.He should read Sujatha's "thiraikadhai ezhudhuvadhu epadi?" first.