Maayai

My review: Maayai

J.R.Kannan's "Maayai" has an interesting premise to work with but the execution is found wanting, as a result it ends up as yet another of those stale one-week movies that grace the second rung theaters. The thing with movies of these types are that invariably they would have a novel or not that frequently explored concepts. But these which are usually manned by untrained amateurs at a shoe-string budget leaves a lot to be desired when the end product hits the screen. Another problem is that since the makers are inexperienced in extracting work from the actors even the most experienced of actors tend to overdo their roles. "Maayai" is a typical example of  it all.

Story deals with jilted love, dual-personality and flashes of Stockholm syndrome. Though on paper the concept appears promising the end product is far from satisfactory. Plagued by snail-paced and boring screenplay, amateurishness of acting and tacky technical values, "Maayai" fails to fulfill the initial curiosity the movie kindles. J.R.Kannan, in addition to writing, directing and producing the movie, has also acted in the central role of the jilted lover. Like his direction, his histrionic skills also needs loads of imagination and hard-work.

Sanam Shetty is the heroine, her second role after impressive "Ambuli 3D". Here though she has ample scope to perform, she fails to pass muster. These are kind of actors who need a better director to extract and hone acting skills. She however is pleasant looking  and can make it big if she chooses better scripts and projects. Sanjay in a minuscule role does his part adequately. "Naan Kadavul" Rajendran has a substantial role to play but he too needs a better director to extract better work from him. Manobala irritates trying too hard to make us laugh in the name of comedy but to no avail. Others like Fathima Babu, Rajkapoor just make the numbers.

Music and songs are below average while cinematography is adequate. Technically movie is tacky.

On the whole, "Maayai" is a good concept marred by poor execution.

Bottomline: Forgettable venture.

1.5/5