Mersal Tamil Movie
Director Atlee and Vijay have collaborated for the second time for 'Mersal'. Keeping with the contemporary marketing revelation of a star's film, initially the title was announced, then the poster, then a single, a teaser and finally the trailer. Of course, the movie had its share of off-screen thrills surrounding its release - initially due to a lawsuit regarding its title, then came Kollywood's strike against the entertainment tax by the state government and finally at the nick of the moment came the animal welfare board's intervention. It's not just for Mersal, be it any other star's movie, this has become the norm. Whether it's a conscious marketing decision or for real is a separate discourse for the film fraternity at large.
Coming to Mersal: This time it's the medical fraternity that is taken to task (Ramana hospital scene check). A few doctors and hospital staff are being banished by a man single-handedly (of course it is Vijay). He is then arrested by the police, then reveals his identity and the reason for his revenge. And then, a big flashback reveal comes up uniting the brothers (Vijay + Vijay - though they were born a few years apart) for the big revenge (Moondru Mugam and Aboorva Sagotharargal storyline check).
Director Atlee has this knack of pulling the rabbit out of the hat by reprising the pet plots in Kollywood that has struck gold. I have no complaints regarding that. Afterall I've lapped up all those movies that I referenced above during my boyhood days. On top of it, the director adds his own essence, which seems to be problematic. The problem arises with the character sketch of choice. For e.g. one of the characters of Vijay plays a magician - he himself vanishes, makes things vanish or still further could exchange handcuffs with the cop, all in a jiffy - well, then he might as well finish off the villain in one go, the moment he sets his eye on him.
Atlee comes up with scenes with exciting prospects, like the one at the airport where Vijay is debarred from entering Paris as he shows up with a "white dhoti". We sense that the Tamil patriotism dialogues are about to explode, but then he does that and also saves a woman who collapses, with a nod from a 'sister' from the land of Tamil Eelam. Atlee would have got his head overflowing with a number of PRO activities to accomplish for the star's political foundation. Some liberal doses of MGR references were tucked in as well.
Like his previous movie 'Theri', here too Atlee employs a female character that undergoes suffering resulting in death. The medical fraternity's indifference is at play. He wants the audience to feel the pain and uprise within a few moments and then pays off with the cold-blooded killings of the people involved. This sort of paves way for an instant gratification, or in other words has "cleansed the system" in his parlance.
SJ Surya continues to impress. He has filled up a unique position for the villain's role in Kollywood. A hyper excited psychotic villain who can be badass and at the same time can give the hero a tough time. In other words, he has relieved us from the clutches of numerous north Indian villains who had a tough time with fancy Tamil tantrums. Vadivelu makes an appearance every now and then, but largely disappoints as nothing of significance was brought forth by him except serving as an aide for the big flashback.
Among the ladies, Nithya Menon, the "heroine of flashbacks" (24, Kanchana 2) had a meatier role than the other 2 ladies combined - Samantha and Kajal who seem to confess "Call us for songs and a few shots. We have nothing else to offer." Vijay, in his triple avatar, has made some effort to deliver the rural slang for the father's role. The other two roles were run-of-the-mill star-fare.
Music and BGM by Rehman were top notch and provided the much-needed highs and emotions for the scenes. Editing and cinematography were rich and detailed.
The movie is just another masala rehash that would satisfy hungry Vijay fans who want their star to walk the talk and do unbelievable gimmicks in the most gratifying manner. Atlee seems to be the latest masala king who promises to pull rabbits out of Vijay's hat. But, whether it turns out to be a rabbit or a monkey is something to do with the eyes of the beholder.