CAST AND CREW
Cast: Dhanush, Kajal Aggarwal, Robot Shankar
Direction: Balaji Mohan
Screenplay: Balaji Mohan
Story: Balaji Mohan
Music: Anirudh
Background score: Anirudh
Cinematography: Om Prakash
Dialogues: Balaji Mohan
Art direction: Vijay Murugan
After a couple of interesting quirky films, director Balaji Mohan gets his hands on a mainstream commercial genre with Maari. The trailer and the songs of the film had given it a huge expectation. Has the film lived up to the hype?
The plot isn’t very complex and it is meant to be a simple, yet exhilarating and entertaining ride for a commoner to sit back and spend his time and money worthwhile. Maari pretty much manages to do that but with a predictable plot.
The major plus of the film has to be Dhanush who takes complete authority on his shoulders. He may not have a strong chiseled body but he perfectly fits the bill of a local don. His comic timing with two of his sidekicks has worked big time in this movie.
Maari is filled with plenty of mass moments which should do enough to satisfy Dhanush fans but one feels more engaging screenplay could have made the film tighter and rock solid. Another advantage of Maari is its runtime which runs just over 2 hours and a quarter.
Anirudh again in top form, scores high in BGM. The Rockstar gets onto a thara local mode this time. One must say that his songs are a huge pillar of support for the film and BGM wise he has produced high-voltage intriguing tunes that are lapped up by the audience.
The thing with Anirudh is, he knows the pulse of the audience, especially the youngsters who seem to go mad over his tunes and it looks like he has mastered different genres of music like folk, melody or retro, at an early phase in his career.
Robo Shankar deserves a special mention. Balaji Mohan is one of the few directors to make use of Robo Shankar’s talent. With top comedians turning into heroes, Robo Shankar is a worthy contender to fill in the void left by the comedians. The actor who plays ‘Adithangi’, also shares the limelight with Robo. Vijay Yesudas who is exploring acting puts in his best, but his character scope seems to be limited.
For the second consecutive time after Anegan, cinematographer Om Prakash is teaming up with Dhanush. His camera work is quite good too and the visuals carry a raw feel as per the demands of the script.
And finally, Balaji Mohan, the director, compared to his previous two movies, comes out of his comfort zone and attempts something on the other side of the spectrum. The best thing is, he is unpretentious about making a mass masala movie.
On the whole, Maari is a very honest masala flick made to satisfy the mass audience.
Verdict: Enjoy the unlimited mass elements offered by Dhanush and Anirudh!
ORIGINAL POST: BEHINDWOODS
( 3.0 / 5.0 ) 