Cast: Silambarasan TR, SJ Suryah, Kalyani Priyadarshan, YG Mahendran
Music: Yuvan Shankar Raja
Direction: Venkat Prabhu
In Tamil cinema the structure of a masala film has changed over the years. From a set of 5 songs and a seperate comedy track to films with one or no song and comedy written into the narrative, the structure has changed and entertained the audience. But one thing remains constant across good masala films over the years is a powerful antagonist charcter. Take the 2002 release Run or the 2004 release Ghilli or 2007 release Polladhavan or the 2015 release Yennai Arindhal or the recent Master, all had strong antagonists that made their protagonists a hero.
Venkat Prabhu gets this bang on in Maanaadu. Abdul Khalique (Silambarasan TR) is a common man. We do get some meta references on his physical transformation and iconic Manmadhan scene. After the initial few scenes, he is just a common man like any of us. There isn’t one slow-motion intro or a background score for him. But we get slow-motion intros with scintillating background score for antagonist, Dhanushkodi (SJ Suryah) who is a police officer with political backing.
SJ Suryah and Simbu’s performances uplift their characters, especially SJ Suryah steals the show. I knew he is great actor but the screen presence was surprising. Now with such characters and performance, a straight narrative masala should’ve been interesting. But Venkat Prabu makes it a time-loop thriller. The screenplay is well-written. His films are known for massive twists and he uses that strength in this screenplay. The film gets inventive and interesting each time it repeats.
The writing never takes audience for granted or tries to be over smart. The film tries to explain why time-loop happens making the concept/film accessible to everyone. Along with smart writing & wonderful performances, the other two strong pillars of this film are Praveen KL’s editing and Yuvan Shankar Raja’s background score. Editing is crucial for a film in this genre and Praveen’s editing is seamless and exciting. Yuvan’s background score just elevates the experience and brings goosebumps. In conclusion, it’s a supremely entertaining film.
Verdict: Well-written screenplay, amazing performances, great editing and scintillating background score comes together for this entertaining Maanaadu
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