Spoiler-free review of “Madharaasi”

A.R. Murugadoss makes a stunning comeback as a director in his latest venture, Madharaasi, an action-packed thriller which has Sivakarthikeyan, Vidyut Jammwal, Rukmini Vasanth, Vikranth and Shabeer Kallarakkal in the lead roles. The supporting cast includes Premkumar, Monisha Vijay, Thalaivaasal Vijay, Aadukalam Naren, J Livingstone, Rishi Rithvik and cameao appearances by directors Sandhanabharathi and A.R. Murugadoss.

A gang of criminals, headed by Virat (Vidyut Jammawal) and Chirag (Shabeer Kallarakkal) are backed by a powerful syndicate that plans to make guns easily available in Tamil Nadu.

The National Investigation Agency has appointed Premnath (Biju Menon) to prevent this from happening, but when their plans go awry, they realise that any plans to derail the project would be a suicidal one. Dogged by Raghu (Sivakarthikeyan) who is determined to commit suicide, Premnath devises an unconventional and dangerous plan to save Tamil Nadu by using Raghu as a dispensable pawn, but there is much more to Raghu than meets the eye.

With the failure of Shankar and Maniratnam in their recent films, many people had predicted that A.R. Murugadoss would be unable to make a film that suits today’s audiences. That notion has been firmly dispelled by a screenplay that proves that Murugadoss is every bit as good as the director who made films like Dheena, Thuppaki and Yezhaam Arivu.

Whilst the second half could have been trimmed, the screenplay remains engaging because of the multiple layers of excellence from the cast and crew.

Sivakarthikeyan’s growing maturity as an actor is beyond stunning. His expressions and body language that morphs as the film progresses, is a performance that cannot be faulted.

Rukmini Vasanth, in only her second Tamil role, delights, charms and enthrals with her soulful portrayal of Malathi, a strong character that refuses to be overshadowed by anyone or anything.

Challenging Sivakarthkeyan in more ways than one is an electrifying performance by Vidyut Jammwal who returns to the Tamil screen 11 years after his last appearance in Suriya’s Anjaan. His magnetic style, suave on-screen presence and awe-inspiring agility in the fight sequences bring colour to each of his scenes.

There are also solid performances from Biju Menon, Vikranth, Shabeer Kallarakkal and Thalaivaasal Vijay.

On the technical side, A.R. Murugadoss has assembled an A-team.

Kerala-based cinematographer Sudeep Elamon makes a magnificent debut to Tamil with a visual display that is creative, expansive and an absolute delight. From creative framing, to unusual angles to a varied palette to artistic use of light, Elamon’s cinematography is nothing short of spectacular.

Stunt directors Kevin Kumar and Dhilip Subbarayan have put together some of the best action and stunt sequences in recent times, eclipsing the work of Anbariv in Kamalhaasan’s Vikram. With the exception of the climax sequence, their stunts are brilliantly handled.

Anirudh Ravichander’s songs sound a lot better when watching the movie, as they are skilfully incorporated into the narrative without a break in momentum. His background score is superb, using rich instrumentation and thumping rhythms when appropriate and receding to the background with dramatic effect.

A.R. Murugadoss has used a similar template to his earlier action movies. Although the screenplay examines issues not often seen in mainstream cinema, the climax scenes are long drawn out and stretches credibility. A trimmed screenplay and tighter writing would have quadrupled the film’s current success.

Despite its minor flaws, Madharaasi is a gripping action thriller with good doses of humour and a tingly-sweet love story amid some truly high octane action sequences.

Madharaasi scores 8 points out of 10.