Mankatha

Last Sunday I managed to watch "Mankatha" at Kamala Cinemas. I am sure by now, everybody knows the storyline of this "super-duper" hit movie (Thanks, Sun Pictures!). So I am not going to talk about the story (if I did, Venkat Prabhu may object, because there is none). But for people, who rely on this blog (!!) to decide on the movie, this is the one-liner (yes, it is, actually not more than that). Okay, the story is, a bad cop (Ajith) comes to know of a plan by four amateurs to take away some Rs500 crores of betting money from a underworld don and what Ajith does forms the rest of the story.

(I dont know how I became addicted to this bullet format of writing, but my thoughts are stifled if I dont use bullets!!)

1. Ajith, as the bad cop, has done well, without worrying too much about image, which I dont understand why Tamil movie heroes steadfastly try to stick to. Hats off to Ajith and Venkat Prabhu for conceiving a negative role for a mass hero and carrying it off effectively.

2. Age has caught up with Ajith and very much evident in his bulging waist line and his greying hair. In the film, he plays the character of a 40 year old policeman, avaricious for money. He does mention his true age in the film, and the scene, as expected gets him the most claps. But I must admit that his "Citizen" days were the worst, when he almost looked like a pregnant lady!!

3. Ajith sleeps with at least 3 different women in this movie. Just FYI. So the hero sleeping with different women doesn't impact the success or failure of a Tamil movie. A Tamil film myth busted!

4. I like Venkat Prabhu, as a director, for his ability to take these kind of light subjects and make a film worthy of spending 3 hours. Here again, he has done that almost perfectly except for few things like length of the movie and music.

5. There are portions where I started yawning because it was so repetitive and on expected lines. He could have cut down on the car chase as its neither spectacular nor creative. Run of the mill stuff, except for one wheeling stunt by former race driver, Thala Ajith!

6. Yuvan Shankar Raja should have done better on the songs. Nothing exciting and even the much touted "koothu" song of Ajith is almost a copy of the Chennai 28 "Saroja Samman Nikhalo".

7. Trisha, during her numerous interviews, claimed that she is doing Mankatha for the better part of last year. But if you look at her screen time, it is nothing more than a guest appearance. Rather, she should now start saying that she is concentrating on Malayalam, Telugu and Kannada movies. (As an aside, I never understood why these Malayalees have such a fascination for heroines who are dethroned in Kollywood! Its a different matter, that we, Tamils have a such a love for Malayalee girls!!!)

8. I need to tell you about Action King Arjun as well. Yes, he has also acted in this movie and the media kept writing (Kumudam, Ananda Vikatan types) that he is the co-hero and blah, blah.. bullshit, I say. Its out and out an Ajith movie and Arjun is just a side-kick in the bigger scheme of things. Time, Arjun goes the Prabhu way! For the record, we also have Lakshmi Rai (Dhoni fame) and Anjali ( Angadi Theru fame) in this movie. In fact, Lakshmi Rai has a meaty role, I would say, compared to Trisha!!

Okay, coming to the moot question of can you watch this movie? Yes, it is watchable. Only if you have the emotional strength to watch Thala Ajith for 2 hours and 40 minutes on screen. (Yes, he is there in almost every frame of this movie)

PS: I am a Ajith fan, hehe!!