Ganesh_reviews: Maamannan
Mari's strongest political statement that could have been his best! Spoiler-free review!!
(All mentioned movies are Tamil movies, unless mentioned otherwise.)
Here is an excerpt from my own review of Mari’s previous - Karnan (2021)
Lets go back to Mari’s previous (and debut) film Pariyerum Perumal for a minute. It was about how studying in college is tough and hard for an oppressed person even though the govt does all it can via reservation. They just didn’t let Pariyan study (infact, even live). So, for such a community, won’t their struggle to even get basic (and other) amenities which puts them in touch with education be harder? or bigger? how different was it? If it was problematic, Why? How was it resolved? You can find that answer in Karnan.
Now, who does a village approach so as to get a basic amenity - like a bus stop? Those in the government i.e., people in positions of power. In Karnan, the root cause why they still don’t get a bus stop despite submitting many petitions is casteism by those in power. So, if one person from the village reaches to a position of power, thus giving the village some representation, will the problem be solved? Do their basic needs get addressed then? Has the root cause of the problem been addressed or it just shows up in different flavors? Mari Selvaraj explores the answer to these questions in his latest movie and also raises questions which any tamil movie is yet to or maybe refused to.
Three things hit the bull’s eye - the premise, casting Vadivelu and Fahadh Faasil - and act as the main pillars throughout this decent movie. The politically sound premise had all the potential to go big but the film got bit by the “star vehicle” bug i.e., changing the plot to suit the real-life image or whims and fancies of the hero since he/his fandom is apparently above the story. However, irony intensifies exponentially because we don’t have suriya or ajith or vijay or rajini here. Then, for whom has the movie been compromised? You guess.
Mari Selvaraj has always made me think. The visuals, metaphors, dialogues keep running in my mind for a few hours even after I leave the theatre. Unfortunately, I can say the same applies to this movie’s 1st half only. 2nd half felt like a different movie altogether. I really wonder whether Mari really made the 2nd half since the 1st half has his signature all over - right from the well-placed metaphors to layered writing and good screenplay. All the aspects of the movie PEAK in the interval sequence. Then, the tone (and the genre?) changes in an obvious manner which makes the movie rely on Vadivelu and Fahadh to get itself across the finish line, and they sure manage to do that.
Vadivelu, in pain, has almost always made us laugh. Can he evoke other emotions too? This part of him was tapped into to some extent in some of his character roles in his first innings. Here, Mari Selvaraj unlocks Vadivelu’s full potential using Maamannan, the titualar role. On the other hand, Fahadh made each small nuance and movement of his count, lived as his character and slayed at it (literally)! Typical Fahadh stuff!! It is (always) a delight to see him act.
Keerthi was just fine. She lingers in the background in what seems like a supporting character role. I believe it still wouldn’t have made any difference to the overall product had they gone with a lesser-known heroine,. However, that’s not the case with her counterpart. Its really hard to shake off Udhay’s real life image in a socio-political drama. His bland performance doesn’t make it any easier. His fight scenes were the only saving grace.
3.4/5
Post Scriptum : During the terrific interval sequence, my mind immediately went - Dhanush in udhay’s role would have made this ICONIC. Mari Selvaraj had told in his interviews about how he writes keeping dhanush in mind and would like to do more movies with him. Then, there was maamannan’s characterization which reminded me a lot about Sivasaamy from Asuran (2019). Wait a minute? What if dhanush did the titular role?
Hello reader! In case, we have not met ..
I am Ganesh and I love talking, reading and writing about cinema. You can read more about me here.?
Again a very well written review and spot on.
Ganesh !!! You are a very good writer, reviewer. In your words placement of words and layering of your review is PEAK when you hit the ending of the writing :)