run for 220 minutes, but the theatrical release was heavily censored at 183 minutes and upon release in January 2010, the film remarkably gained mixed reviews. Sify.com cited that the film represented "something new in the placid world of Tamil cinema" adding that it "broke away from the shackles of the stereotypes". Selvaraghavan also was praised by the reviewer with claims that "the director transports us to a whole new world and at the end of it all, we are dumb stuck by the visuals, the packaging and the new way of storytelling". Rediff.com gave the film 3.5 out of 5 claiming that viewers should "steel your stomach before [you] watch it" and "regardless of the minor discrepancies, AO is definitely a movie to watch". In contrast, Behindwoods.com gave the film 0.5 out of 5 describing the film as "wildly crass", dismissing that "the underdeveloped script lacks everything – starting from strong plot twists to captive locations to graphics to credibility, above all". The film evoked a strong opening at the box office and gained average collections. Despite the mixed reaction to the film, Selvaraghavan has expressed interest in making a sequel to the film featuring Dhanush in the future. Selvaraghavan then relaunched his marital drama film Idhu Maalai Nerathu Mayakkam in November 2008 and filming started with a new cast of Dhanush and Andrea Jeremiah in the leading roles. Ramji and G. V. Prakash Kumar had taken over as the cinematographer and music director respectively. The film was described to be a "quick project" with Selvaraghavan and Dhanush's sister Vimalageetha taking up the production reins. However, filming was subsequently stalled for unknown reasons in February 2009. In August 2009, the film was launched again for the third time with a first schedule planned in Hyderabad and Selvaraghavan taking over exclusively as producer. However, the film was yet again abandoned in October 2009. The director had also begun pre-production work on a film featuring Vishal and Trisha Krishnan in the lead roles in late 2008, however, the actor and director called off the project months later after having creative differences. After discussions which had been ongoing for a year, Selvaraghavan announced a collaboration with Vikram in January 2008 and worked on the film's script for a year during the making of Aayirathil Oruvan. The project, dubbed by the media as Sindubad, finally began shooting in September 2009 in Ladakh, with