Tuesday, September 20, 2011

Film Review: MANKATHA (மங்காத்தா)

If you like senseless fighting, looting and murdering, then this one is for you

Cast: Ajith, Arjun, Trisha, Vaibhav Reddy, Premji Amaren, Mahat Raghavendra, Ashwin Kakumanu, Lakshmi Rai, Andrea Jeremiah, Anjali
Writer / Director: Venkat Prabhu  

My husband Venkat and I had been trying to see this film three weeks since its release and finally managed to catch it last Saturday at Arora Theatre at King’s Circle. Both of us are fond of Ajith and were keen not to miss this one especially as it’s been a while since Ajith has been seen on screen while this also happens to be his 50th film.

THE STORY: Vinayak Mahadevan (Ajith) is a police officer based in Mumbai. Sanjana (Trisha) is his girlfriend who hopes to marry the forty-year-old soon. The suspended Vinayak just wants to have a good time and leads a happy bachelor’s life while Sanjana does her best to change him. He drinks, smokes and sleeps around and is not the most straightforward of policemen. Sanjana happens to be the daughter of Arumuga Chettiyar (Jayaprakash) who actually runs a gambling den in an old movie theatre that he owns. USD 100 million is to come to India for betting in IPL cricket matches. That’s equal to 500 crore rupees. Arumuga Chettiar (AC) is keen that the money passes through his den. AC’s protégé Suman (Vaibhav Reddy) is keen to steal the money. He gets his friends - police officer Ganesh (Ashwin Kaumanu), bar owner Mahat (Mahat Raghavendra) and IIT gold medalist Prem (Premji Amaran), to help him do this. Vinayak gets to know about the theft and jumps into the fray as the fifth share. In the meanwhile, Prithvi (Arjun) is an ACP who is determined to wipe out illegal betting and has been successful in bringing a number of crooks to book. He gets wind of the USD in AC’s den and is keen to capture the same. Watch the film to see whether the thieves get away with the money or whether it is ACP Prithvi who triumphs.

MY PERCEPTION: The film is absolutely violent from beginning till the end. It kind of makes one wonder whether human lives have the least value in the world. That does not leave one with a good feeling at all! We sat through fight sequence after fight sequence, fisticuffs, gun-shots, blood and gore.

I blindly went to see the film for Ajith and so did Venkat. Yeah, the actor has delivered and how! He has done the part of a debauched police officer just perfectly. Salt and pepper hair, bags under his eyes, a slight paunch and a sneering smile – Ajith in a very different role wonderfully delivered. And this is the only plus point in the film.

Yeah, the many actors such as Jayaprakash, Vaibhav Reddy, Ashwin Kaumanu and Mahat Raghavendra do have chunky roles and they have performed alright. Premji Amaren was exceptionally good.
Trisha has a small part and has done it well while Arjun has a minuscule role that does not really test his acting skills.

Most films I find begin with negativity but go on to become positive with good triumphing over evil, etc. Not so this one. I found the plot quite senseless and seeped in negativity.

What’s extremely misleading about Tamil channels on TV is that they praise all films to the skies and no one comes forward to point out any flaw. Ditto goes to the web. So one can never get the right idea of how a film will be before going to see it.

VERDICT: If you like senseless fighting, looting and murdering, then this one is for you.

RATING: ** Shaky

* Silly
** Shaky
*** Smart
**** Snazzy
***** Super


  1. Nice Review...We saw the movie on the first day itself only for thala,but waste of money and time only:)

  2. Oh, i have been very keen to watch the film, now looks like it is not worth even for Ajith!
    thank u for the warning, wl wait for it on sun tv as it is sure to come soon on this channel!
    it has been hyped by sun tv mainly becoz it is their production.

  3. @Lakshmi
    yeah, forgot to mention it to you as you were leaving Delhi on Saturday. yeah, its true that Sun TV hypes their production. But general trend of Tamil films even on the net. This person was superb, that person magnificent, etc. Everybody writes like that. I find that quite fascinating. Do they take the public for fools, I wonder :)

  4. I dont understand the stupid film industry. All the bad things they show and they are being praised by the whole world (media). The public trust media and they too say, the movie is excellent, the acting was super and so on. A hero should be a positive role in the movie. First of all, he is a police officer and he is shown to be mis-justice to the police department. As a lover, he is not genuine, he cheats for money. As kills all his friends for money. The movie would have sowed 1000 seeds atleast who will like to follow Ajith's role.. But all these people(Director, Actor, etc) get more money, more name, more fame, etc.. what a world is this?