Gopi Nainar's Aramm, starring Nayanthara in the lead role, has opened to good reviews and word of mouth. The film, which is about one day in the life of a District Collector, has been praised for its emotional and powerful storytelling. It has also been applauded for voicing the concerns of marginalised groups.
What Aramm has also done is to prove that a film with a woman in the lead role needn't always be centered around what's called "women's issues". A person of any gender could have played the role of the District Collector for the plot to work.
In earlier interviews, Gopi Nainar has said that he didn't have the gender of the Collector in mind when he wrote the story.
Applauding the success of the film, actor Amala Paul congratulated director Gopi Nainar and Nayanthara. On Twitter, the actor wrote that "in an industry which is plagued with masala movies for star heroes, Aramm has proved the formula to be wrong."
She also said that it was good cinema, good stories, and good performances which mattered.
Hence proved, good cinema matters, kudos to #Nayanthara and director #GopiNainar , in an industry which is plagued with masala movies scripted for star heroes, #Aramm has proved the formula to be wrong. Good cinema matters, good story matters, good performances matter! pic.twitter.com/yzPTU0fqGD
— Amala Paul (@Amala_ams) November 13, 2017
Amala Paul has starred in films like Mili and Amma Kanakku which centered around her character.
Nayanthara, called 'Lady Superstar' by her fans, had another release in which she was the main lead this year, a horror flick called Dora which did decent business. However, the horror genre has usually had women protagonists in substantial roles.
#Aramm in Theatres First one at #KasiTheatre #thanksforallyour great response means a lot pic.twitter.com/MjXNnFDlWF
— Nayanthara (@nayanoffl_) November 11, 2017
Succeeding with Aramm puts her in another league altogether. Meanwhile, the actor has also been visiting theatres in Chennai to promote the film – something she does not usually do.
After watching Aramm, several social media users have also said that they now believe Gopi Nainar's allegation that AR Murugadoss, the director of Kaththi, had flicked the story from him.