7 Aum Arivu ( ) is a 2011 Indian Tamil-language science fiction action film written and directed by A. R. Murugadoss and produced by Udhayanidhi Stalin under Red Giant Movies. The film features Suriya in dual roles, along with Shruti Haasan (in her Tamil debut), and Johnny Trí Nguyễn. In the film, a genetics student enlists the help of a descendant of Bodhidharma, to revive Bodhidharma's skills to stop a Chinese mercenary with hypnotic powers from starting a government-planned biological war against India.
The film was announced in May 2010 with principal photography commencing the following month and continued for a year before being completed by July 2011. Filming was held predominantly in Chennai, Coimbatore with sporadic schedules in parts of China, Bangkok and Hong Kong. The film's music is composed by Harris Jayaraj, with cinematography being handled by Ravi K. Chandran and editing done by Anthony. The visual effects for the film were provided by Legacy Effects.
7 Aum Arivu was released on 25 October 2011 in Chennai and a day later, on Diwali, worldwide. The film received mixed reviews from critics, but was a commercial success and received seven nominations at the Filmfare Awards South, including Best Film – Tamil and a nomination for Best Actor – Tamil at the inaugural South Indian International Movie Awards, while winning two awards each at the Ananda Vikatan Cinema Awards and Vijay Awards, respectively.
Plot Bodhidharma, a master of martial arts and medical remedies, is the son of a great Indian king of the Pallava dynasty. He is sent to China by his guru, who requests him to stop the spread of an epidemic existing there from spreading to India. Initially, the Chinese treat him as an inferior. However, when he cures a little girl infected by the disease and defeats people who ill-treated the villagers, the Chinese then began to respect and worship him. He begins to teach them how to cure many diseases, the skills of hypnotism, and the physical training of the Shaolin monks that led to the creation of Shaolinquan. After several years, when he expresses his desire to return to India, the villagers believing that their village would be free of diseases if he were buried there, plot to poison him and bury him near the temple. Bodhidharma agrees to die and subsequently becomes a fundamental figure in Chinese history, affectionately being dubbed "Damo".
In modern-day China, Dong Lee, a mercenary working for the Chinese government, is given the task of starting a government-planned biological war against India, called Operation Red. He arrives in Chennai and commences by injecting a virus into a pariah dog, with the virus being the same strain as the one from Bodhidharma's time. Meanwhile, Subha Srinivasan, a genetics student, discovers that Bodhidharma can be brought back to life if his sample of DNA is matched with another sample of DNA. Coincidentally, she finds a matching sample in Aravind, a descendant of Bodhidharma who is working as a circus artist. Lee finds out about Subha's mission to revive Bodhidharma and plans to kill her first.
Subha approaches Aravind for the sake of the mission. One day, Aravind's family sees Subha and clearly remembers that she visited them a year before to find Aravind and learn all about him for her research on Bodhidharma. Saving herself, she lies that she does not know them. Later that night, Aravind's uncle tells him Subha visited them a year before. Aravind meets her and is enraged upon realising the truth. However, the next day, he reconciles with her and agrees to contribute to the research. The research begins to resurrect Bodhidharma and to end Operation Red. Meanwhile, Lee continues to wreak havoc on the city.
Subha goes to her genetics department and announces that Operation Red can be stopped if they read and make use of the cures in a book written by Bodhidharma. However, the department refuses to believe and looks down on her, claiming that an ancient book is of no use in modern times. After some time, she and Aravind learn that her professor from the genetics department is assisting Lee in Operation Red. They sneak into the professor's apartment and learn about the operation. The next day, the professor is caught by Aravind, Subha, and her friends Ashwin, Imran, Malathi and Nisha but surrenders and explains that he received a huge sum of money from the Chinese government to carry out Operation Red. After the professor gives the group more details about Operation Red and how to stop it, they leave. However, Lee eventually arrives, and the professor once again teams up with him to save his own life. Lee is now even more determined to kill the entire group, especially Aravind, after he was unable to hypontize him and after finding out that he's a descendant of Bodhidharma.
Subha, Aravind, and the group barely escape from an attempt on their lives by Lee. They finally locate a research centre where they can complete their research and decide to make it their base of operation for a few days. They all deactivate their phones so that nobody can trace them. However, Lee traces them through Malathi and Imran, before killing them. Lee then locates the research centre. Subha and her friends in the research centre escape in a van, but Lee catches them. An unconscious Aravind eventually awakens Bodhidharma's powers, using them to fight and kill Lee in battle. Aravind uses an ancient medicine to cure the disease, marries Subha and finally tells the press about the importance of Indian history.
Cast
Production
Development
In late 2009, director A. R. Murugadoss intended to collaborate with Salman Khan to remake the Telugu film Kick (2009), which was produced by Sajid Nadiadwala. But the plans did not materialise and Murugadoss later decided to collaborate with Suriya for another project. It was produced by Udhayanidhi Stalin under Red Giant Movies, in their fourth production venture following Kuruvi (2008), Aadhavan (2009) and Manmadan Ambu (2010). The company made a public announcement in May 2010, also announcing the title as 7 Aum Arivu. The technical crew includes music composer Harris Jayaraj, cinematographer Ravi K. Chandran, editor Anthony and production designer Rajeevan.
Murugadoss was intrigued on learning about the descendants of the Buddhist monk Bodhidharma being tracked to Tamil Nadu. Though people worship him for spreading Zen Buddhism and martial arts, and being deified in several parts of the world, there had been minimal awareness in India. As a result, he researched extensively on providing details that referred to Bodhidharma and his ancestors. It took him nearly ten-months for the pre-production. Murugadoss further admitted that the film's first 15 minutes would be set during the 6th century on tracking Bodhidharma's origins and remain completely authentic, while the outstanding portions were to be set in the present period.
Casting
Suriya portrayed two different roles—one being Bodhidharma, and the other being his fictional descendant, a circus artist. Speaking to Radhika Rajamani of Rediff.com, he said it took him a long time to authentically portray the character, and a lot of effort was required. Suriya watched Osho's videos for bringing the serenity in his eyes as well as incorporating with the mystic's calmness and further practised martial artists from stunt choreographer Peter Hein by referencing few online videos and discussed with the crew enquiring on the right way to perform those stunts. For portraying the circus artist, Suriya worked with the crew of the Great Bombay Circus and stayed with them for a night which he called "a wonderful experience" as the crew employed people from various states. A trainer from Rajkamal Circus was hired to help Suriya get the body language of a trapeze artist.
The film marked Shruti Haasan's Tamil debut as a lead actress, after having previously acted in Hindi and Telugu films. She played the role of a scientist researching Bodhidharma's roots. Murugadoss said he wanted a beautiful and intelligent woman, hence he chose Haasan for the role. Vietnamese American actor and martial artist Johnny Trí Nguyễn was signed to play the antagonist. He received the offer when he was in contact with Peter Hein, and the latter recommended his name to Murugadoss for someone who can perform numerous action sequences. Describing his experience in the film, Trí Nguyễn stated:
"There are quite a few scenes that have elaborate fights between Suriya and me [...] When I started work on 7am Arivu, I had no expectations. But I was pleasantly surprised when Murugadoss asked me to shoot a lengthy action scene on a highway in the middle of a traffic jam on the very first day of the schedule. Cars were flipping and vehicles were crashing all around. I was quite surprised when I learnt about the unit's pre-production work and the number of days they spent in choreographing the scene."
Abhinaya was cast as Bodhidharma's wife, reportedly because the director wanted a "non-glamorous" actress for the role. Ashwin Kakumanu was cast in a supporting role after Murugadoss saw him in Nadunisi Naaygal (2011). Dhanya Balakrishna had stated that though her friends were against her taking up supporting roles, it did not stop her from accepting one in 7 Aum Arivu. Malayalam actress Urmila Unni made her Tamil debut in the film.
Filming
Principal photography began in June 2010 at Chennai. The team shot a sequence at the Ampa Skywalk, followed by the song "Oh Ringa Ringa". It was filmed in over 40 locations in and around the city, including Besant Nagar and Ranganathan Street in T. Nagar, with around 500–1000 junior artists who rehearsed their dance choreography at the AVM Studios for three days. According to the song choreographer Shobi, "The place is so crowded that two people cant even walk side by side at a given time. But, we made Suriya, along with 500 other dancers, shake their legs to the number. We shot the sequence using hidden cameras." Many dancers had to be outsourced from other regions as the makers could not find enough dancers in Chennai. In late August, Haasan suffered an elbow injury during the filming of a stunt sequence. Later in early December, Suriya had a spinal injury after a stunt sequence.
By August 2010, the team moved to Coimbatore for filming the circus portions at the Great Bombay Circus, and Suriya performed the trapeze acts under the supervision of Pratap Master. Suriya underwent physical training for a kung fu sequence within 16 days, following Ravi K. Chandran's request. The team then moved to China for filming the 6th century portions; the fifteen minutes of the edited film reportedly cost . On shooting in China, Suriya added that the people there were excited and had learnt new things, while also adding that "At 3 am, the whole crew (even kids) would be ready with their costumes and make-up. It was not a burden for them; it was not like working on another project, it was like worship for them, it was like being in a temple. The discipline and respect they showed and the support they gave was amazing."
In January 2011, the team moved to Bangkok for filming the song "Mun Andhi" with Suriya and Haasan, and few portions of the song were also shot in Hong Kong. Shabina Khan designed the costumes for Suriya and Haasan, staying with the team throughout the filming process. Afterwards, the team moved to Chennai for filming the climax sequence in the Tambaram and Pallavaram bypass area. Despite shooting 80 percent of the film, Ravi K. Chandran left the project as his dates clashed with Agneepath (2012), but returned in May 2011. During his absence, cinematographer Ravi Varman shot the remaining portions. The team further shot few sequences at the IIT Madras research institute in Chennai. Filming continued for over a year before wrapping in July 2011.
Post-production