Ari was touted to be the first film on the Arishadvargas, the six negative mental qualities forbidden in Hinduism. Jayashankarr V, a second-time director, has wielded the megaphone. Padded by a strong cast (including seniors like Sai Kumar and new-generation artists like Viva Harsha and Anasuya Bharadwaj), Ari's script was admittedly perked up by the "insights" of spiritual masters the director consciously met during a Himalayan retreat.
The prime characters (barring Vinod Varma's godly character) are all tormented by their own vices. Someone wants to be more beautiful than the most beautiful woman she knows. Two middle-aged men are after perpetual riches. A sought-after tea-maker fantasizes about sleeping with a celebrity (very sorry for the person who has been sexualized without her consent). So on and so forth.
Ari is a deeply hypocritical movie in the sense that it tries to evoke lustful thoughts in the viewer while professing that lust is bad. Not just a po*n star but also an everyday character (Subhalekha Sudhakar's friend's daughter-in-law) is sexualized. The camera angles are deeply offensive in these portions. The moans in the background are even more offensive. Two comedians (Srinivas Reddy and Chammak Chandra), sitting in a supposedly genuine spiritual centre, gossip about the characters and their urges without offering a new insight.
The pre-climax and climax go on and on even after making the film's point. Ari is also technically inferior.
