Story

Aiyya introduces you to the Bollywood day-dreams of Meenakshi Deshpande, Rani Mukherjee, who poses as different actresses dancing and running on the roads. The daydreamer is stuck with a family of melodrama. A chain smoker father who smokes four cigarettes at a time and a typical 80s mother who is extra dramatic regardless of the magnitude of reaction required. The blind grandmother is not normal either who whizzes across the rooms in her wheel chair with the sunglasses on inside her house. The brother is also a whacko with extreme love for dogs and espouses education completely. Welcome to the Deshpandes.

Meenakshi's parents are looking for a match for her but the suitors never impress her and the matches become a routine with no success at the end of the day. Meenakshi on the other has dreams of a filmy love in her life.

In an unexpected twist of events, Meenakshi is attracted deeply to the scent of a man, Surya (Prithviraj Sukumaran) and falls in love with the scent (or the man?) What did you expect from such a whacko family? Meenakshi is a librarian whenever she is out of her dreams of being a Bollywood celeb. Madhav a suitor falls in love with her instantly while the love of her life. Surya being a drug addict ignores her very existence in the world despite her weird ways of following him. What a jodi between a whacko daydreamer and a junkie!

The date is set for her engagement with Madhav but it is only her love for Surya that strengthens as the day approaches.

Who would she choose? You have to make it to the theaters to know the rest.

Analysis :

Stereotypes an cliches are everywhere but the mindless comedy with a decent distance from being idiotic has worked for Aiyaa. This puts this above the romantic comedy genre that we generally get to see in the movies of today. The movie however is lacking in the fluent flow of a movie as if several different pieces are sewn together; the stitches being obvious even to the untrained eyes.

Concentrating on different characters at once make it a poor vichyssoise that doesn't blend in well. The story also feels abnormally long with the songs being placed at the wrong times. The first half could be all well to many but the second half is too much of a drag. The comedy doesn't really tickle your funny bones and a song at this time makes things worse. A few parts of the movie like the scenes between Meenakshi’s brother and her ludicrous colleague Maina could have been completely avoided to speed up the pace.

Performance :

Rani Mukherjee isn't like one of those heroines who looks 18 even after a long gap. She has aged quite healthily but that doesn't stop her from some of the finest dances in the movie. Her acting skill have also been up to the mark often entertaining the crowd. It can be safe to say that she is the sole actress who took on the movie on her shoulders, the entire length.

Prithviraj is not only handsome but also a treat to watch with his well developed character. However, the movie could have been better if he stayed on the screen a little longer. Subodh Bhave does justice to his character. Most other over do their roles but they are not to blame.

The director had the wakda theme in his mind which entertained and also worked against him in the movie. With the classiest crew he worked with, he definitely should have made a better mark. Amit Trivedi's uncanny and catchy tunes are a nice addition. Dreamum Wakeuppam, Sava Dollar and Aga Bai are definitely worth a mention with great choreography to make things work better. What actually makes the movie special amid the cliched characters is the cinematography of Amalendu Chaudhary.

Final Word: Though a movie that has a few bad moments, few long minutes and dull scenes; Aiyaa is an good entertainer for the folk and a treat to fans of Rani.