"MOVIE REVIEW: ANNIYAN"

Submitted by

R.GOWTHAM

Reg. No. BA0150017

Under the Guidance of

Ms. PRANUSHA KULKARNI

Assistant Professor

TAMIL NADU NATIONAL LAW SCHOOL

(A State University established by Act No. 9 of 2012)
Tiruchirappalli
Tamil Nadu 620 009
SEPTEMBER 2016
Ms. Deepika S

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Assistant Professor in contracts
Tamil Nadu National Law School
Tiruchirappalli
Tamil Nadu 620 009

CERTIFICATE

This is to certify that the project work entitled ANNIYAN MOVIE REVIEW

is a bonafide record of the research work done by R.GOWTHAM, under my

supervision and guidance. It has not been submitted by any other University for the

award of any degree, diploma, associate ship, fellowship or for any other similar

recognition.

Place: Tiruchirappalli

Date:

Signature of the Guide

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R. GOWTHAM
Reg. No. BA015017
II B.A., LLB. (Hons.)Tamil Nadu National Law School
Tiruchirappalli
Tamil Nadu 620 009

DECLARATION

I, R.GOWTHAM, do hereby declare that the project entitled MOVIE REVIEW ON

ANNIYAN WITH RESPECT TO JURISPRUDENCE THEORIES submitted to

Tamil Nadu National Law School in partial fulfilment of requirement for award of degree

in Under Graduate in Law to Tamil Nadu National Law School, Tiruchirappalli, is my

original research work. It and has not been formed basis for award of any degree or

diploma or fellowship or any other title to any other candidate of any university.

Counter Signed Signature of the Candidate

Project Guide

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S.NO SYNOPSIS PAGE NO:
1 ANNIYAN- BRIEF STORYLINE 5
2 NATURAL AND POSITIVE LAW 6
3 IS ANNIYAN REQUIRED FOR THE 7
SOCIETY?
4 DIFFERENCES BETWEEN ALTER EGOS 9
5 ANNIYAN AND RETRIBUTIVE THEORY 10
OF PUNISHMENT
6 AMBI AND BENTHAM 11
7 CONCLUSION 11

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Introduction:
A normal law abiding man, frustrated with the corruption he sees all around him
develops multiple personalities in order to restore justice. This is the one line story of the
film anniyan. This film can be compared with many of the jurisprudence theories and
many theorists as the hero acts both as a positivist as well as naturalist in this movie.

In this project, I am going to explain about origin of natural and positive law and I
am going to relate the theories with this movie by comparing the scenes of this movie
with the circumstances in those theories.

ANNIYAN BRIEF STORYLINE:

Ambi, who is the protagonist of the film is a meek lawyer who strictly follows
positive law and wants to change the society, but because of his oft repeated concern,
people dont take him seriously and certain people hated him. Besides, Nandhini, the girl
whom he loves, also rejects her because of this, which makes Ambi shattered, which
creates an alter ego inside Ambi's mind. Such circumstances leads to a mental disorder
called multiple personality disorder and creates an alter ego in his mind named Anniyan
(Stranger), a vigilante who wishes to reform the entire nation. He punishes the citizens if
they don't follow the law, in the path of natural law. In this movie, Ambi doesnt even
know about the existence of Anniyan inside him, where Anniyan thought Ambi as another
person. Ambi is a Brahmin who even fears on seeing blood. Anniyan on the other hand
kills wrongdoers brutally. He kills according to the Garuda Purana where punishments for
the wrong doers in the hell, after their life were described according to the Hindu
mythology.

Anniyan, acting as a silent viligante kills every wrong doers in the society whom
he came to know by the complaint filed by his alter ego ambi in a anynomous website.
Firstly, he kills a man who doesnt give lift to severely injured man in his new car, which
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leads to the death of the injured. He was killed brutally killed by hundreds of buffalo in a
dark well, which was recognized as the punishment given in the hell according to Garuda
Purana (Andhakoobam) for those who were frauds, cheats and doesnt care about
others life.

Secondly, he kills a man who is contractor for the food served in the railway trains,
who is responsible for all the poor quality food served like lizard in rice and like that by
frying him a hot pan which was considered to be punishment given in the hell according
to the Garuda Purana, for the most selfish people and torture others for self-pleasure or
for increasing their wealth.

Then he kills a man who is a owner of a break company for automobiles which
produces second quality brake wires and sells it to their customers for a higher price,
which leads to many accidents by leaving him with leeches, a kind of slow death, which
is considered as a punishment those who stealing from their consumers by producing low
quality products.

Anniyan, who punishes every criminals even dare to kill his alter egos lover
Nandhini as she refuses to pay income tax for the whole money which were transacted
during a transfer of land in which she plans to build her future house.

At last, Ambi was arrested by the special police force for all the acts which
anniyan do, without his knowledge and the judgement came in favour of him. However,
he requests to give him death penalty, as he fears that if he lives in the society freely,
Anniyan will overcome him and kills someday. Thus, by seeing his innocent character
and truthful heart, judge ordered him to undergo medical and psychiatric treatment until
anniyan doesnt overcome him.

NATURAL AND POSITIVE LAW:

Aristotle divides law into natural law and positive law. Natural law is determined
by our understanding of what we are, or our human nature. Positive law is determined
simply by the will of the lawmaker. Under natural law something is forbidden because it

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is wrong, being unsuitable to our human nature, properly understood. Under positive law
something is wrong because it is forbidden. The two kinds of law are clearly quite
opposite. Aristotle might say they are contraries. Natural law, however, is more
fundamental. Positive law cannot change or abrogate natural law. Positive law is
concerned with human activities or behavior that natural law has not ruled on. Positive
law, as St. Thomas says, can only add to natural law; it cannot subtract from it. Thus,
another way of looking at the division of law into natural law and positive law is to say
that positive law is law that is additional to natural law.

Natural law or the law of nature is a system of law that is determined by nature,
and so is universal. Classically, natural law refers to the use of reason to analyze human
nature both social and personal and deduce binding rules of moral behavior from it.
Natural law is often compared with the positive law of a given political community,
society, or state. In legal theory, on the other hand, the interpretation of positive law
requires some reference to natural law. On this understanding of natural law, natural law
can be invoked to criticize judicial decisions about what the law says but not to criticize
the best interpretation of the law itself. Some scholars use natural law synonymously with
natural justice or natural right while others distinguish between natural law and natural
right.

Positive law refers to the body of man-made laws enacted within a political entity.
It is a reaction against natural law theory. Positive law includes all those laws that have
been duly enacted by a properly instituted and popularly recognized branch of
government. In the U. S., positive laws come in a variety of forms at both the state and
federal levels, including legislative enactments, judicial orders, executive decrees, and
administrative regulations.

IS ANNIYAN REQUIRED IN SUCH A SOCIETY?

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 Anniyan is a character who has a clear thought that even a small civil or criminal
wrong should have a severe punishment, in order to control it completely in the future.
His ultimate aim was to bring an origin to a corruption less society, however his way of
taking the law in his is hands wholly is not acceptable in a democratic society. He
follows the Hindu mythological Purana called Garuda Purana which deals with the issues
connected with death, funeral rites and reincarnation which also speaks about the
punishments which will be given in the hell for the wrong doers. Anniyan, acts as an
ambassador, who gives those punishments to the wrong doers during their life. He wants
to create a thought that each and every wrong has its own punishments which might lead
to the crimeless society. Anniyan thus follows the theory of Austin, who had in his
command theory said that Law is a command backed up by the threat. Anniyan wishes
to create that kind of fear in each and every persons mind by giving brutal punishments
even for small mistakes which were done by most of the citizens, which are illegal, to
make a Better world tomorrow, where everyone is following the laws and orders. In a
scene, he evens tries to kill his alter egos( Ramunujam (a) Ambi) lover for registering a
piece of land for lower price than the government price of that land and giving bribe for
the ascertained officers for completing the transaction as soon as possible.

Natural law theory like legal positivism has appeared in a variety of forms and in
many guises. One of the most elaborate statements of natural law theory can be found in
Aquinas who distinguished four types of law: eternal, divine, natural, and man-made. So,
according to Aquinas, eternal law reflected God's grand design for the whole shebang.
Divine law was that set of principles revealed by Scripture, and natural law was eternal
law as it applied to human conduct. Man-made law was constructed by human beings to
fit and accommodate the requirements of natural law to the needs and contexts of
different and changing societies. Also, according to Aquinas, the fundamental precepts of
natural law were not only ascertainable (mere mortals like you and me could and did find
them out) but self-evident, i.e., they required no proof. They were, in Aquinas' terms, per
se nota, known through themselves. Like his predecessor, Aristotle, Aquinas

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distinguished two kinds of reasoning: theoretical and practical. Human beings were
capable of both sorts of reasoning. Theoretical reason was the capacity to apprehend
certain truths, such as the truths of mathematics. Practical reason was the capacity to
apprehend those principles guiding human conduct which tell us how we ought to live,
what things we should value, what goods we should seek, and how we ought to order our
lives. Like Aristotle, Aquinas believed that there were principles of practical reason and
that they were no less fundamental than the principles of theoretical or speculative
reason. according to Aquinas, general and unchanging. They were the same for everyone.
But man-made or human law has to take the particularities of each human situation into
account. Man-made law must adjust natural law to specific and often changing
circumstances. Man-made law is accommodating and changeable.

Anniyan is thinking that the divine law which was explained in the Garuda Purana
is supreme and the law and the punishment of human law is inappropriate for the current
situation of the society. Hence he follows the Aquinas theory of natural law, who says that
divine law is supreme. Natural law is a part of the divine law, and reveals itself on
natural form. It is from the eternal law as revealed in natural law that all the human law
derives. All laws enacted by the human authority must be within these limits. Positive law
is valid only so far as it is compatible with the natural law, and thus with eternal law. He
follows the Aquinas theory of natural law.

Hence in my opinion in such a society, anniyan is required for such a cruel world
where the major crimes in the society are not taken into account by the government, even
as a wrong. According to anniyan view, there is no size for a wrong, like major or minor
wrong. Whatever the wrong may be, it should be taken into account by considering its
final result which would cause a major change in the society.

DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE ALTER EGOS:

When anniyan is following his own law with reference to the Indian mythology
called Garuda Purana, Ambi, himself follows the law and order brought up by the man.

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When anniyan is a naturalist, ambi acts as a positivist. Ambi doesnt even take the first
stwp of change. He plays a role of extreme positivist, whereas anniyans main motive is
to change the society.

In an incident in the movie, Ambi catches a rogue who tease a girl in the
government bus and gave a complaint against him in the police station where, when the
police inspector starts to beat the rogue he insisted them to go as per the law, to submit
him to the court and not to beat him. In each and every move, ambi follows the human
law and wishes to be a positivist. On the other hand, anniyan punishes for those who
crimes which cant be punished by the government as it cant be considered as a crime or
such crimes hasnt been brought up to light. In a scene, he tries to punish a authority who
allocates the show for classical singers to have a concert in a Sabha annually. He chooses
a person who came under the recommendation of a sports minister without even checking
her voice in the rehearsal. Thus he was been feared to death by anniyan and made him to
change and to give permission to those who are talented.

ANNIYAN AND RETRIBUTIVE THEORY OF PUNISHMENT:

In short, this theory can be explained with the old saying a tooth for a tooth. This
theory is based on the idea of vindictive justice, or a tooth for a tooth and an eye for an
eye. The principle is that if a man has caused the loss of a man's eye, his eye one shall
cause to be lost; if he has shattered a man's limb, one shall shatter his limb; if a man has
made the tooth of a man that is his equal fall out, one shall make his tooth fall out. This is
to pay back the wrong-doer for his wrong-doing. It means that the wrong-doer has to be
made to suffer by way of retaliation, even if no benefit results thereby to him or to others.

In this film it is very clearly seen that anniyan even though going above the hand
of law and taking vigilatainsm into a whole new level follows the principle of retributive
theory of punishment. He follows the principle of an eye for an eye and a tooth for a
tooth. This is very much clearly seen in the scene wherein which Anniyan follows this
theory of punishment and act according to it. In a scene where a rich man doesnt let a

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severely injured old citizen in his car, which leads to his death, thus anniyan leaves him in
a dark well with hundreds of buffalos which leads to his in the same way the old man
died in the accident by getting hit in many cars.

In the same way, he kills each person in the same way they did to others. In a other
scene, he kills a house owner who rents his house for a lot of money to the poor, even
without ordinary facilities like electricity and water and steals a lot of money was killed
by anniyan in a way that he was left in a closed room with nothing to eat other than
money and water. He began to die starving , then at last died by eating the money in the
room for survival.

AMBI AND BENTHAM:

Bentham was interested in the nature of man. Bentham felt that humans were
motivated by the desire to achieve pleasure and avoid pain. Therefore it made sense to
judge laws on their ability to provide happiness to citizens. For Bentham it was clear that
for a law to be just it would provide the greatest happiness to the greatest number of
people". His theory became known as utilitarianism. Laws would be evaluated by their
utility (usefulness) to society.

Austin was a contemporary of Bentham and was influenced by concept of

utilitarianism. He used utilitarianism as the basis for his ideas, which would lay the
foundation of modern positive law theory. Austin felt law should be completely separated
from morality. He argued that judging laws on a moral basis was subjective (based on
personal feelings/emotion) and would potentially lead to anarchy because individuals
would be free to select those laws best designed to meet their needs while disregarding
the others Positive law provides an objective standard for human conduct: a legal norm
applying equally and impartially to all individuals. Rule of Law. This concept left little
room for civil disobedience, but for Austin the mischief inflicted by a bad government
are less than the mischiefs of anarchy". For Austin laws could not be judged on whether
they were bad or good but on useful they were to society their social utility.

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 Moral theory that focuses on the results, or consequences, of our actions, and
treats intentions as irrelevant. Utilitarianism , at its most basic, states that something is
moral, or good when it produces the greatest amount of good for the greatest number of
people . It's a theory of normative ethics that asks whether a specific action is good or
bad, moral or immoral. Utilitarianism answers this question with an economic analysis
that focuses on human lives and says that those actions that make people happy are good.

In the full length of the film it is important to note that Ambi acted as a utilitarian
and shows particular affinity towards benthams theory of utilitarianism. He proves this
argument clearly by trying to sacrifice his own life for the benefit of the society. In a
scene, Where Ambi was arrested and stands in court for all the crimes done by anniyan,
without the knowledge of Ambi, he requests to give him death penalty, though the
judgment is in favour of him, as he fears that anniyan would come out of him and kill
others. In all these instances Ambi clearly works on maximizing the utility that is net
pleasure of the people minus the net pain. In all his acts he is seen trying his best to
increase the pleasure of the people.

CONCLUSION:

Concluding, the birth of anniyan from a respective law abiding citizen is an

outcome of public apathy and is a result of general frustration over the irregularities and
the loopholes in the legislation, where negligence is given more importance over a
common mans life and the system comprising of corruptible in the government.it should
have been the governments duty to taken care of such irregularities, but failed. In the
same case, the negligence of the government towards this resulted o the formation of
anniyan. In common parlance denial of duty can never be tolerated and there has to be, a
most happening naturalist way of taking things to hands when the government fails to
initiate measures to alleviating even the pettiest of crimes in the state. That way,
anniyans stand is valid and just towards taking a gory way of granting punishments in an
old modernist fashion, in the way of Garuda Purana. So, it can be equated that the dual
class stand of anniyan shall be considered just and valid, which, just did not fall into the

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current positivist way, rather being a realist and naturalist of his own terms and going ad
hominem over even the pettiest of issues and the system of approach of his, was once
accepted and followed by people once, is a forthright argument to prove his interest and
care vested in the society which the government had failed to do.

BIBLIOGARPHY:

V.D.Mahajan, Jurisprudence and Legal Theory, 5th Edition, Eastern book company

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