Maatran

My review: Maatran

After a below-average showing in "7aum Arivu" Suriya's shot at redemption to salvage his pride at box-office is "Maatran". He has teamed up with the director of one of his biggest hit "Ayan" K.V.Anand. And the duo have not disappointed the viewers. They have come up with an engaging action thriller that keeps you at your seats edge for most parts.

On the lines of chasing army secrets, nuclear secrets , here the protagonists are after the formula of lactose supplement which supposedly contains molecules which might harm children who are fed with it. And that antagonist is the protagonist's father is a new twist here though there are enough (forced in...!) justifications given in the end for the punishment to be meted out by the son.

First half moves at a very brisk pace which includes characters introduction, love angle (not that interesting or novel) , & preparations for the story to move forward. Towards the intermission unexpected twist results in a completely different second half which involves Hero & heroine going after the mystery behind the dreaded formula. Second goes on endlessly does tests one's patience towards the end. What could have been a crisp ending is stretched unnecessarily. Last 10 minutes of the movie is needless & should have finished it with the antagonist getting nabbed by the police.

Kamalhassan is the only actor in the country who used to put in a lot of effort to show contrast between his movies , even in the commercial ones. Be it quadruplets with different accents,body languages & voice in "Michael Madhana Kama Rajan" , midget in "Aboorva Sagodarargal" or Shanmugi maami in "Avvai Shanmugi". One actor in the current generation who is trying to it is Suriya. Just after a brilliant portrayal as "Bhodidarman" Suriya this time does a conjoint twin. With the attention to details by K.V.Anand , Suriya is brilliant in the conjoint twin portions. The body language that are so contrasting in accordance to the difference in the shades of the two characters is astounding. Though Akilan has a change over in his style similar to Vimalan after the separation , the body language of Akilan is so stark that one sees only Akilan though he looks like Vimalan. Even physically they look different with Akilan well built & brawny while Vimalan averagely built with a tummy.

As said earlier the attention to details is minute from the director. Especially after the separation of the twins the difficulty in balance that Akilan looses , his problem with his walk, the deformity that he has in his toes due to the fact that he has walked his whole life without giving much weight to one of his foot are examples. Also Akilan is shown to use his left hand for eating & writing in the latter half which is due to the fact that it was his free hand when he was in that conjoint posture. Also the visuals portraying the sportsperson are done very well which look authentic. K.V.Anand should be appreciated for these.

Others in the cast have done their parts well. Sachin Kedhekar is brilliant as the antagonist while Kajal Agarwal does her bit in a role without much scope. Good to see Tara after a long time on screen. The foreign actors have done a neat job unlike in "Thandavam".

Harris Jayarj's songs are already a huge hit. All the 5 songs are good with "Rettai Kathire" , "Naani Kooni" , & "Yaroo yaroo" topping the list. "Theeye theeye " & " Kaal mulaitha poovae" are also good numbers. His background score is average as usual. What is this obsession of making actors dance atop dangerous cliffs & rocks Mr K.V.Anand.

Soundarrajan's visuals are brilliant. The technical team including the CG & performance capture team have done a stupendous job in presenting the first half without any observable glitches. No where it is apparent that it is actually a single person who has done both the characters. So nicely done. But Anthony's editing could have been a bit better in the second half.

On the whole, "Maatran" is a engaging entertainer with good acting , direction & visual effects , better served with atleast a 15 minutes of trimming.

Bottomline: K.V.Anand's Hattrick hit

3.5/5