2023, Tamil, Theatrical Release, 7.6/10 IMDb, Directed by Madonne Ashwin
An organically made comical vehicle, that duly capsules social responsibility. An analogical premise, tools efficiently to awaken the inner ‘vigilante-self’ through interesting plot points. The strength lies in its child friendly satires, registering in young minds the ‘need to voice against’ the malice of corrupt officials.
The premise is a run of the mill kind, that attempts to reiterate the perils of corruption, that claims the lives of innocents. But the film stands tall as the director confronts the mundanity in his premise, through an unconventional hook- a comic series character’s voiceover.
The crux points towards the quality-compromised government housing schemes, which are unsafe to be dwelled in. It pretty much rhymes with the news such as https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/agra/poor-construction-272-flats-for-urban-poor-in-agra-to-be-razed/articleshow/74215217.cms. The article shouts out at poorly built housing complexes being razed to ground, after due inspection by independent bodies.
The film cleverly threads in its stipulated path never attempting to venture into the ‘mass appealing’ heroic kind, kudos to its lead Sivakarthikeyan, a mass-hero aspirant himself. He becomes a true hero, by not bending the character traits to fit his bill, which might have enabled him climb the ladder further, eyeing those top positions in the industry. To the contrary, it is the hero’s lack of courage that the movie rides on, often hinted as ‘learn to adjust’.
The ‘hero myth’ pattern of Joseph Campbell’s, a common template for stories involving a hero who goes on an adventure. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hero%27s_journey. It broadly falls into three main areas – departure, initiation and return. Majority of movies has these three component but a director gets to decide on his narratology. He also gets his screenplay done on the fact how human perception are affected by his narrative structure. By tweaking the time spent on each of the stages, we get newer versions of any given ‘Hero’s Journey’
Here, Madonne Ashwin ticks all criterion of the Hero’s Journey through his lead role Sathya, played by Sivakarthikeyan. Refusing to retaliate, Sathya obliges to move to a poorly built government housing scheme. He refuses the call through a supernatural aid, a mentoring voice in this case, but crosses the threshold after considerable ordeal and there is a death of the mentor– Sathya no longer hears the voice of the comic series hero. He then battles with the antagonist, the politician and refuses to return without the ultimate reward. He finally is the master of two worlds, his people’s and the mass’s.
The 2021 Minnal Murali https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minnal_Murali tweaked the template of Superman franchise to capture two super powers of commoners in the South Indian village, making it organically inclusive to it’s audience. Similar is Maaveeran to the Tamil audience, which doesn’t house larger than life super powers, but a simple metaphorical ‘Voice’, that recalls excerpts from the Hero’s comical script to guide him to proactively solve the problems of his people. While former was true to its genre, the later boundaries itself to stay closer to entertaining the younger audience, through a non-preachy tone.
The voice that Sathya hears is the comical hero that he has created for the newspaper column. It is a metaphor representing the inner voice in every human, that echoes against injustice to people around us, but never uttered louder, ever. And Vijay Sethupathi, as the Maaveeran comic’s narrator, dubs beautifully in a stern voice, adding more power to the hero’s character and the comedy in the screenplay. Shivakarthikeyan, convincingly portrays the fear filled common-man’s role through his body language and expressions. From a inhabitant who hesitates to speak his mind and learns to adjust with what is throw at him and his family, he finally transforms to a true vigilante who exposes the evil minister.
The actor’s coordination with the voice from above, is almost schizophrenic. Makes one roar in laughter with Sathya’s combinations with Yogi babu’s character, who plays a mason. The satire constantly reiterates the difficulties of the families who live in uncertainty. Director Mysskin playing the fraudster minister Jeyakodi, nails the role of a wrath filled pea-brained. Mysskin is on the roll as an actor, playing such engaging characters. The simple role of a villain, gets three dimensional with his drilling eyes and resilient body language, and he successfully manages to deliver it all with a dash of comedy here and there.
Saritha plays Sivakarthikeyan’s mom, a pivotal role, for it is her character, that accelerates the story. Her voice is a ‘magic carpet’ that transports the audience to the 80’s, to reminisce the classic roles that she had donned in her 45 years long, acting career.
Aditi Shankar playing Nilla, the editor at the newspaper for which Siva offers his outsourcing artist services. She does play a key role. However convincing she might have been, the story couldn’t accommodate more of her, sadly.
The hero’s decisive crisis ends victorious, he returns back to his artist job at the newspaper, transformed. Again, the director follows the Hero’s Journey to a ‘T’. Sathya transforms, after a mundane climax that involves him rescuing a little girl from the collapsing apartments.
Learning not to live the life that someone has thrown at you might be a catchy mass one liner, but, the success of the venture, is the fact that the actor Sivakarthikeyan, gave enough space to the director, so Madonne Ashwin, could tell a tale, that he dreamt to.