YUGANIKI OKKADU MOVIE REVIEW

Movie: Yuganiki Okkadu.

Cast: Karthi Sivakumar, Reemma Sen and Andrea Jeremiah.

Music: G.V Prakash.

Director: Sri Raghava.

Producer: Sri Raghava .

cinematography : Ramji.

Editing : Kola Bhaskar.

Budget:32 crores

Rating:

YUGANIKI OKKADU MOVIE REVIEW:

Story And Movie Analysis:

Yuganiki Okkadu Telugu Movie (Tamil: ஆயிரத்தில் ஒருவன், Telugu: Yuganiki Okkadu, English: One Man in a Thousand) is a 2010 fantasy adventure Tamil–language (dubbed in telugu) film directed by Selvaraghavan, who with the project, directs his fifth feature film.
The film begins with an episode in AD 1279, when the successor of the last great Chola Emperor, pending invasion, sends his people, to survive the threat. The story resumes with an archaeologist, a coolie and a member of the army going in search of the archaeologist's father to the ruined city that was the place the exiled Chola Prince retreated to. An expedition is promptly arranged, and on the course they stumble on the lost Chola civilization and its king and find unexplained links between them and the culture. The shocking events and the problems that arise forms the crux of the story.
The film languished in development hell due to slow progress of the shoot and the extensive pre and post-production works, evading release dates ranging one year. Shooting began in July 2007, and took place in various locations: Chalakudy, Kerala; Jaisalmer, Rajasthan; and other regions throughout India with a record number of extras. Prior to release, the film was given an adult rating by the Central Board of Film Certification and worldwide rights for the film were sold for a record Rs.35 crores. The film released simultaneously with a Telugu dubbing, coinciding with the festival of Thai Pongal on 14 January 2010. Upon release the film has remarkably received contrastingly mixed reviews.
The film begins symbolically with a performance of Therukoothu, or street play, with the folk art showing the last minutes of the Chola King's reign. Then the audience is taken to A.D. 1279, where the death of the Chola dynasty seems imminent and people are being driven out of their kingdom by the Pandyas in southern India. To escape from them and save the life of his successor, the Chola emperor sends his son, along with his people to a secret territory unknown to his enemies. The prince is seen leaving with the chosen few who are made responsible for the safety of the prince and the rest of the people. The Cholas also take away with them an idol sacred to the Pandyas, which angers them even more. To capture the escaped Cholas and retrieve their idol, the Pandyas extend their invasion to the unexplored territories which the Cholas cover with their prince, but eventually fail.
Several centuries later in 2009, Indian archaeologists continue searching for the existence of the lost Chola group based on clues left by the ancient Pandyan warriors. But all the archaeologists, who attempt to search for the secret land disappear during the search missions. Archaeologist Chandramouli (Pratap Pothan) is the most recent person to have reportedly traced the empire but he also fails to return from his mission.
The Indian government organizes a search expedition led by officer Anitha Pandiyan (Reemma Sen) to find Chandramouli and the Chola Empire with assistance from the Indian army led by Ravisekharan (Azhagam Perumal). They meet archaeologist Lavanya (Andrea Jeremiah), the estranged daughter of the missing archaeologist Chandramouli, and she assists Anitha and gives crucial documents prepared by her father on the Chola dynasty with instructions on the route to reach the destination. She also joins the expedition since her insight is considered essential for the success of the project.
Along with the army, Anitha employs a group of porters headed by Muthu (Karthi Sivakumar), to transport the baggage during the journey. The crew embark on a voyage leading them to an island, Min-gua, near Vietnam. Here they are faced with the seven traps set by the Cholas: sea creatures, cannibals, warriors, snakes, hunger, quick sand and a village. Many porters and army men are killed on their way.
Muthu, Anitha and Lavanya get separated from the others. They reach the ruins of a village where they get subjected to black magic. They nearly go mad before finally reaching the secret hideout of the Chola dynasty. The three of them find an ethnic isolated primitive Tamil group ruled by a Chola king (R. Parthiban). The king and his people are in hiding, awaiting the arrival of the fabled messenger whom they believe will bring glory and prosperity back to their land and/or lead them back to their motherland (Thanjavur). The king and the priest consult the Gods for omens and order Muthu, Anitha and Lavanya to be burnt alive as sacrifice to their gods.
At this point, Anitha tells the king that she is the messenger he has been eagerly awaiting, sent from the homeland. Muthu and Lavanya are taken as slaves. Anitha is given a chance to prove herself as the messenger. She tries to seduce the king and convinces the Chola king to heed her message - to march towards the homeland two days from then with his people and he would be crowned a proper king. He suspects her bona fides since none of Anitha's actions match the qualities of the messenger described by his ancestors and ancient paintings - the messenger will be ill-treated at first, but will eventually help out the local tribe and, also his arrival will be preceded by hail.
Meanwhile, Anitha drugs the priest and poisons the water sources. She catches a glimpse of the Pandyas' sacred idol and leaves, finally exposing her identity as a descendent of the Pandya Dynasty. For generations, her race has been trying to find the whereabouts of the Chola prince and his people who escaped with the idol. The central minister who sponsors the expedition also is shown to be of Pandyan descent. The Chola king is shattered for having believed in Anitha as his true messenger. Anitha, with Ravishekaran, gathers an army and assaults the hidden kingdom. The Cholas are at war once again with the Pandyas. In due course, the king finds that Muthu is the true messenger - the chosen one who would save the Cholas from the clutches of Anitha and the army.
They fight bravely but the Cholas lose and are taken prisoners. Their women are molested and raped by the army and the king is killed. The men drown in the seas. The story ends with Muthu saving the Chola prince. Thus the seed of the Chola dynasty is brought back to India by the messenger as predicted.

Final View :

Its a good film, the second half was gone in the film. By over view the film you can feel better, dont miss the south indian graphics. its a good film to watch this weekend.