Maaveeran - A well written entertaining socio political fantasy
'Maaveeran' has been released in theaters today with the unlikely combination of leading commercial hero Sivakarthikeyan and Maddone Ashwin, the critically acclaimed writer of 'Kurangu Bommai' and director of 'Mandela'. Whether the duo gave the audience a novel kind of entertainment remains to be seen.
Sathya (Sivakarthikeyan) is a comic strip creator living in the slums with his mother (Saritha) and sister (Monisha Blessy). He is so meek that he even allows his art to be utilized by another man and believes that the best way to live is to adjust to situations and people above his status. He however creates the print cartoon 'Maaveeran' about a courageous warrior who fights for the downtrodden people. He also falls in love with a journalist (Aditi Shankar) and plans for a normal peaceful life. Meanwhile a wily politician M.N. Jeyakodi (Mysskin) displaces the slum dwellers from their land and settles them in newly built high rise buildings. After an accidental fall and lucky escape Sathya begins to hear a narrator (Vijay Sethupathi) who seems to control his life and aims to change him into a brave warrior to fight for the people. The voice pits the unwilling Sathya against his Yaman and disrupts his life. Whether the meek guy transforms into a real SuperHero or not is what 'Maaveeran' is all about.
Sivakarthikeyan has effortlessly gotten under the skin of Sathya, the meek boy next door who shies away from trouble. He should be lauded for agreeing to do the role that turns heroic only during the climax unlike heroism usually seen in the usual commercial cinema. He is brilliant in the fights taking much more than he gives and the result is audiences get a mix of comedy and elation. Its a treat to watch him haplessly fighting against his tormentor looking up at the skies. Aditi Shankar is cute as the mandatory love interest. Mysskin is terrific as the hyper tense villain and Telugu comedian Sunil on his debut in Tamil is the perfect foil to him as a silent villain. Veteran actress Saritha makes her presence felt with her solid acting as the mother of the hero while Monica Blessy is also aptly cast as the sister. Yogi Babu brings the house down with his comedy as the labourer who has to fight for his place with the North Indians. Vijay Sethupathi's voice acting is so perfect that it turns out to be a major plus for the film.
What works best for 'Maaveeran' is the entire first half which sets up the novel's story, a different lead character and the conflict that is forced on him. We get to the edge of the seat when the narrator takes over the life of the young man and his resistance to it. The comedy works very well in these portions especially the interactions between Siva and VJS, Mysskin, Saritha and Yogi Babu respectively. The theme that the villain too is under the control of another shadow like the hero is pretty effective. The strong message that a great hero can never become one without facing the greatest of pains is well underlined in the screenplay.
On the downside the second half pales in comparison with the first especially dwelling too long on Sathya's denial of his destiny. A few scenes are over-repetitive like the confrontations between the hero and the villain's henchmen. More effort could have been put to avoid cliches such as the slum dwellers turning against the hero. The computer graphics works could have been much better.
'Maaveeran' is technically sound with Bharat Sankar standing out with his energetic music and background score. Viddhu Ayyanna and Philomin Raj with their takes and cuts have helped bring the filmmakers vision on screen. Arun Viswa has produced the film under his banner Shanthi Talkies with high production values. Madonne Ashwin who stressed the importance of one vote in the lighter vein in Mandela has this time chosen to boldly expose the government's shortcomings in the slum dwellers rehabilitation. He has succeeded to a great extent in trying to awaken the great warrior lying dormant in every common man as a writer. As a director he has won by packaging his messages in an entertaining commercial format.
Verdict : Go for this entertaining commercial fantasy that boldly takes on social issues like the title suggests
