Considering the kind films that Selvaraghavan has made so far, Aayirathil Oruvan is a huge leap for him. Dropping the emotions and relationships that he usually relies on in favor of adventure and computer graphics, he has aimed for an ambitious, big-budget epic that tackles not just adventure but also history. The film offers a different experience from the usual and has a good plot and good ideas. But the poor screenplay, especially post-intermission, and Selva's steadfast refusal to make things more accessible make it fall short of feeling like the epic it tries to be.

The final destination of the last Chozha King, who left his own kingdom in 1279, has always been a mystery. A famed archaeologist(Pratap Pothan) who tried to discover it has just gone missing and the government has put together a team, led by Anitha(Reema Sen), to find him and the place. The team recruits Lavanya(Andrea), his daughter, also an archaeologist, and a group of helpers led by Karthi and sets off to retrace the king's route, which begins from an island near Vietnam. The group faces obstacles at almost every step of the way but a surprise awaits them when they reach their destination.

The film's first half works well as an exciting action-adventure yarn as the group goes in search of the secret kingdom. This is a genre that has been tackled innumerable number of times in Hollywood and so its inevitable that there are scenes that remind us of several of their films but even then, the film manages to put its own spin on them and provide a valid rationale behind them. The graphics are credible even if not too convincing (surprisingly, the worst instance is the rendering of a stationary camel!) as the group encounters a variety of hurdles in their journey. The snake-attack sequence and the Nataraja shadow episode working best in terms of both v/fx and picturization while the tribal-attack is brutal but all the CGI blood lessens its visceral impact.

With the focus on action, the characters of Karthi, Reema and Andrea are barely developed. Still, the interplay between them keeps things moving during the downtime between the action setpieces. Karthi's raw approach and the light jealousy that Reema and Andrea show over him ensure that the short snatches of dialog they exchange contain many laughs.

The second half completely shifts the film's tone. We are introduced to a society that is very unique and different in almost every respect and the reason behind this uniqueness is a good surprise. The characteristics of the people here, the conditions they live in and their rituals and customs make things dark and gloomy and Selva pulls no punches in depicting these. The reason why the group landed up there finally gives the film a purpose though Reema's methods of achieving this aren't very clear.

The proceedings though are marred by too many inconsistencies and loopholes. The dialect spoken takes a while to sink in and become understandable; the two most important backstories, those of Parthiban and Reema, feel rushed; and the characterization of the people seems somewhat arbitrary (like, for instance, Parthiban, who shows up looking like a witch doctor, with skulls behind his back and walking down in the blood of recently-sacrificed victims but soon starts singing plaintively about the fall of his kingdom). So its never clear if the society is supposed to be a Thunderdome-like place - with a megalomaniac leader - where anything goes or a place of refuge with people and a leader who are waiting to return to their past glory.

The twist about the 'Chosen One' is presented well with an impressive lead-in and like the earlier revelation about the reason behind the quest, it provides a strong basis for everything that happened upto that point. But it doesn't lead to anything positive since the lives of the people only becomes worse. The war is staged well but the happenings after feel a bit explotative.

Karthi delivers on the promise that he showed in his explosive debut in Paruthi Veeran. While he has a lot less scope here performance-wise that actually makes it even more impressive since he captures our attention amidst all the larger-than-life visuals and sets. He is able to convey a lot with small changes in expressions and is completely uninhibited. Reema Sen seems a little awkward initially as her dialogs seem stilted and unnatural. But she comes into her own as the temptress and her ferocious expressions and feline movements are spectacular. Andrea has little to do, both when it comes to emoting and the role her character plays in the big picture. There are times, like when her intentions are misinterpreted when she visits Parthiban, when she almost seems like comic relief.

It is extremely difficult to introduce songs into the narrative smoothly in a story like this and Selva seems to have realized this. So he abandons all pretense of that and simply picturizes Oh Eesa... as a music video that is spliced into the proceedings but has no real link to them. It has some surreal and interesting imagery though that makes things interesting. Un Mela Aasadhaan... fits in more easily and is thoroughly enjoyable with the sense of wild abandon and fun that it conveys. Neither Maalai Neram... nor Indha Paadhai... find their way into the film but its not much of a surprise considering the nature of those numbers. The cinematography works well in both halves, capturing the action and the locales in the first half and creating a dark, claustrophobic feel in the second.