Mankatha Review

Where do you begin with Mankatha? From the word go, Venkat Prabhu's directorial ventures have quite a buzz about them so its hard to keep the expectations at bay. Starting with his first Chennai 600028. So ridiculously successful was the audio release, apparently there was requests/pleading from fans to release the film after the exam period. Considering it was from their target audience, request were heeded to and the rest is history. Then came Saroja which met with similar success as well as Goa with Soundarya Rajnikanth stepping into the producer seat. Now the mother of them all, Mankatha, hits screens with some of the biggest actors Venkat has worked with on board. But does all the expectation of Ajith's 50th film, an all star cast, Yuvan's music and a Venkat Prabhu game tag result in a good film? Read on to find out.

There is not much reason to writing a synopsis since the gist of it can be seen in the trailer but just to recap. Sumanth [Vaibhav], Mahat [Mahat Raghavendra], Prem [Prem G Amaren] and Ganesh [Ashwin Kakumanu] plan to heist cricket betting money worth 500 crore in transit when Vinayak Mahadevan [Ajith], a suspended police officer comes into the picture. Intelligent and with his own agenda, there is more to Vinayak than these boys know. However, where there is a crime to be commited, there has to be a hero to stop it. Enter Prithviraj [Arjun], ACP assigned with a special task force to bring down not only the robbery but the whole illegal betting system. Game set and all is falling to plan yet no one will be prepared for the game thats about to begin as the rules have changed without them knowing. The double crosser is about to be double crossed. Who remains and who comes on top forms the crux.

With all due respect, its about time Ajith had done this kind of film and this kind of role. Yes he has done, and very well might I add, negative shaded characters before but this is his first through and through bad guy role and boy does he nail it. He has made some really bad choices in the past but thanks to Venkat's writing and Ajith's acting, none of them come to mind at all. Simply put, Ajith is back and thank god for that! Out with the good guy hero image and in with the bad man, Vinayak is ridiculously cool and stylish. The actor had the time of his life playing Vinayak and its visible. In fact, his counter character Prithviraj played by Arjun who plays the cop role for the umpteenth time, struggles to get the attention of the audience. But he does the role given to him well. Vaibhav gets the meatiest role out of the four friends and plays it to the T. Ashwin Kakumanu is back with a bigger role compared to his last film Nadunissi Naaygal and is believable to a point. Prem G is relagated to funny man once again but doesn't really have a catch phrase this time. Thankfully his "Enna Kodumai Sir Ithu" was used only once through the film. While some may say his mimic act is boring, its become his trademark so its ok. Mahat tries to make an impression for his first credited role but has a long way to go. Now to the ladies. Sorry Andreah, Laxmi Rai, Trisha and Anjali, this one is definitely for the boys.Andreah takes the cake on believable acting, although only briefly. Trisha doesn't really do anything although dubbing for herself does scores her a few brownie points but even then, Anjali is a step ahead of her just slightly. In honesty, you sympathize with these 3 ladies for approximately 5 minutes which is about the same timeframe they are on screen barring their songs. Laxmi Rai is a beautiful lady but she needs to work on her acting and that too in major proportion. Jayaprakash downplays his smuggler act well and doesn't allow his previous stints on the dark side show this time either. The rest flow through.

Ok so stepping back to technicalities, we head to the music department first. Yet again, another round of banging music by Yuvan Shankar Raja and the charts are there to prove it. At the same time, the songs that stand out are Vilaiyaadu Mankatha, Ithu Namma Ballelaka and Nee Naan. However, it cant be said that this is Yuvan's best work. Cinematography by Sakthi Saravanan is passable and editing by Praveen K. L. & N. B. Srikanth could have been a little crisper. But the writing is to blame for any lack of performance here and that is in the hands of director Venkat Prabhu. While this kind of robbery flick from a negative character's point of view hasn't been seen before in Tamil and Venkat should be applauded for his attempt, there is no denying it could have been better. 

First off, we have the misfortune of pretty much every character getting overshadowed by Ajith, with the ladies taking the biggest blow. As remarkable and deserving of praise as his performance is, the focus can be a little overbearing and long winded. Plus you have to think, are the 4 boys, and everyone else for that matter, that easy to manipulate. Understandably, they are not supposed to be as smart as our man Ajith but at some points, it would have been better had they not seemed so stupid or gullible. On top of this, some of the scenes are just a little too long. Keeping the audience on the edge of their seat is vital to suspence flicks. If the scenes dragged out to one point, the songs pitched in on the speed breakers too. Vaada Bin Laada could have had better placing, forgetting that the picturisation/choreography was questionable. Yet it doesn't all head down hill in the second half. Whatever speed was held back through the songs, is picked up with the climax. By the time the film finishes, the out takes begin and you are left in stitches from laughter with the whole team and their fun.

So the final verdict? It may not be a Royal Flush but this one definitely has a Full House and Ajith.

Rating: 4/5

Dil Ka Funda..

Have you ever had that moment when you get a bunch of questions popping into your head when you hear about something or see an incident? Well, I've been reading and seeing articles about relationships for quite some time and felt compelled to write about. If not to vent my own frustration, to find out if anyone else feels the same. If you don't agree or have an answer to any of the these questions/statements, please do comment as this is something that has me somewhat dumbfounded.

Having written an article on Salman Khan and Katrina Kaif's recent break up, I have been reading a bit about what each have openly said to the media and how many articles have been written about them. But it wasn't just them that got me thinking. Now yes, I am talking about couples in the limelight of Indian Film Industry but what I witness as well is how the aam janta - my family, friends, colleagues or even people that I follow on Twitter - respond to it including their emotions, ideals and/or morals on the topic.

Its evident that as people change relationships will as well but certain fundamental principles seem to have no place in today's society. But the desire to be in a relationship and be loved by someone still stands. The issues that I have been witnessing over the last few years, and more so in the last 6 months, seems to boil down to one thing. Self. That is the importance given to oneself and ones needs/desires/wants. Ultimately, remaining in a loveless relationship and being abused either mentally, physically or emotionally is not something that I endorse but at the same time, the threshold for the common person seems to have reduced. I know that circumstances in life dont stay the same and my life is perfect example of what can happen if you hold on too long or get into something that you dont believe in. But the amount of broken relationships that one witnesses is increasing and there is no age limit to it either.

I maybe wrong in that its only now this is happening but in all honesty, the ratio of failed relationship have increased for sure. It isn't that I am looking for these situations either. As a sort of agony aunt to my friends and relatives, my exposure to relationships is limited I know but at the same time, the above mentioned articles plus the on-going buzz about certain relationships does make a impact. Further to that a friend said that I shouldn't take relationship in filmdom seriously. What is that supposed to mean? People are people. Whether your famous or not, it doesn't make a difference. The fact is  things that once had importance dont seem to exist anymore.

Yes there are people that still value the concept marriage, including myself, and family. I would be stupid to look past some of my favourite on screen couples that have proven themselves to be normal yet made for each other in real life too [Suriya-Jyothika, Ajith-Shalini, Madhavan-Sarika]. But these people are hard to come by. The concept of arranged marriage still exists but the number of times my younger cousins or non-Sri Lankan/Indian friends are me why I'm agreeing to it is testament to how absurd they feel it is. 

So while on one side you have people that see marriage as a hinderance and prefer to remain as "partners" or a "living together" couple. On the other side you have people that aren't hesitating to form a relationship even while they've been in another for years. Then you have people that have spent close to a lifetime together and separating for the most peculiar reasons. Yes, I dont know the history and there may be valid reasons for it all but like I mentioned, this is a thought of mine. Why is it that after spending so many years of their life together, couples separate for the same things that were present at the beginning of the relationship? Why does there seem to be a rush to start and end things officially? Have the traditions of 'Till death do us part' died with previous generations? There are alot of girls that I know that dont entertain the idea of living together relationships only because they cant find the right guy and there parents would have a field day. I know parents that are aware of their childrens' relationship with someone they don't approve but say that 'its an age thing, they'll get over it' as they turn a blind eye to it.

I recently read a a weekly magazine that had tidbit articles about the latest gossip topic of Prabhu Deva and Nayanthara's open affair. Beyond my opinion of this relationship, the article talks of supposed compromises between the parties and whatnot. But there was a question-answer section that said if Prabhu [Sivaji's son] and Khushbu were together now, they would have stood a better chance now than in their era. I don't know about you but that doesn't sound like a good thing to me. 

Standing by your friends is something everyone agrees on and has followed for years but where has the era gone for people who lived their lives with one person? Circumstances out of our control can forgive people who love again but in all honesty, is being someone's ex a title worth having..