Every time Venkat Prabhu's movie hits the theatres the expectation is to see variety with a bash of youthful energy, and the ace director this time has adopted the most successful genre in the recent times- horror comedy. Both stars Venkat Prabhu and Suriya have been aching to get back to the business after Anjaan bombed at BO and Massu seems to have laid the road, let’s dig in and see what’s spooky about it.
Plot:
Horror Comedy is quite an interesting concept and now it’s not far away from being deemed as “Done and dusted”, well here is VP with a new trick up his sleeve. Considering the genre of the movie, the lesser you know its better. The movie kicks off with Suriya and Premji two bonded-for-life amigos, who thrive on petty robberies. A song, action and a pot boiling chase stops at an accident after which Suriya is bestowed with a super natural power of seeing dead people. Why, what and how he deals with the power is to watch and relish.
Suriya and Premji set the pace of movie with light hearted comedy amidst spooky super natural elements in a rather interesting way. A horror movie is never complete without a flashback and a strong backstory. In ‘Massu’ you do see them after a series of VP’s usual topsy turvy twists. When we say Horror, there is a big expectation of a scary road down the lane with some thrills and fear, Masss is more of a “Dealing with spirit’s and their emotions” kind of movie and would be a long shot to put it in Horror genre. The first half is about how Suriya blends with his character of Massilamani the Masss, accepts his fear factor and channelize it to make it a living out of it. Once the core plot starts unveiling, the later part of second half does become very predictable and the screenplay chugs along with just the entertainment quotient to make it a fair play.
The “other” Suriya is a surprise element and VP touches the character with a Sri Lankan Tamil flavor and kudos to Suriya for pulling it rather brilliantly with the help of Rajasekar’s perfect cinematography, not to forget the CGI effects through the movie giving life to the spirits. Nayanthara and Praneetha are the two leading ladies in ‘Massu’ and they have little to offer to the script and merely play love bugs.
VP’s movies are always rich in casting, an ensemble cast of biggies, and a few cameos are his signature style. In Masss while Arvind, Jai, Vijay Vasanth appear in a cameo, two other important stars Parthiban and Samuthrakani add their star value. Both of them have meaty roles as a policeman and a politician, good or bad? Well watch and find out.
Things that stand out:
Suriya’s characterization as Masss the hero and as a Srilankan Tamilian is commendable, as with all of VP’s movies, he brings out the best out of his heroes. Suriya’s dialogue delivery and screen presence catapults the movie forward. To quote a scene, the one in which Suriya feels for his friend Premji in front of Nayanthara is hilarious. VP has been stereotyped as the director who loves party hard movies, a bit of adult humor and all that but in Masss he has steered clear of those elements and has given a wholesome family entertainer with an interesting storyline for the summer. As much as we ridicule Premji’s antics we cannot but admire him here for his timely tickles and his funny body language, which make a definite impact in Masss. Yuvan’s music is certainly not the best, but the Poochandi and the BGM in the revenge sequences are a definite treat. The Poochandi song starts off in MJ’s thriller style and then moves in good spirit, you really have to applaud VP for placing the song at the perfect juncture of the movie. A Special mention to stunt master Silva in the first half, for the car chase and fights made up for the action ingredients required for the commercial flick.
Things that could have been better:
The film is spanned around 155 minutes, but it’s those predictable scenes that make the sequences look even longer than reality. The Editing work in the first half is crisp especially with the one liners and comedy scenes not dragging, but loses steam in the second opening doors for improvement. VP’s known for his signature style delivery of his intended storyline, Masss however is little less on the funny quotient and rather relies and thrives heavily on Suriya’s super strength and mass factor. As with most of VP’s movies the heroines don’t have much of a part and a mature actress like Nayanthara could have been used better.
Verdict : In all, the movie is a good watch for this late summer to quench your thirst with laughs and occasional surprises.
Rating : 3/5
