Maamanithan Movie Cast, Crew, Review
Radhakrishnan (Vijay Sethupathi) is a simple man, a auto driver, who is very dedicated and truthful to the core. He seems to be very satisfied with his life that the auto, wife Savithri portrayed by Gayathrie and his 2 children define. His kids attend a government school and would like to secure their better education by getting them transferred to a private school. For this, he builds a false hope of assisting a real estate businessman madhavan (Shaji) to sell all the plots which in turn cheats him. The ripple effect that he and his family go through constitute the remaining of the film.
The film starts with a police car convoy arriving at Radhakrishnan’s house just when he begins to find a hideout. As for the first half it acquaints us with the sequences that have culminated into this moment and the past of Radhakrishnan on how he married Savithri and who are his friends. While doing the same, it also correctly defines the characters of the lead actors of the film named in the screenplay. On one hand it is easier to associate with the characters, on the other hand it makes the movie quite predictable in the second half.
Indeed, all the movie is based on actors’ and actresses’ performance. Both, Vijay Sethupathi and Gayathrie have played lovers before in many movies including Super Deluxe, Naduvula Konjam Pakkatha Kaanom; however, the on-screen love story felt fresh in this movie.
The actual star of the show here is Guru Somasundaram, who portrays Ismail Bhai, a crony of Radhakrishnan’s. The impressive half is the second one and the emotion conveyed is touching.
Seenu Ramasamy is a person who knows how to make a drama out of the nowhere and such fact can be observed during the entire movie. The scene where Vijay Sethupathi breaks down to Guru Somasundaram and cries his heart out would straight away go down as one of the best scenes Seenu Ramasamy has conceived. This is because the problems faced by Radhakrishnan after he has been cheated are solved in a rather convenient manner and so the viewer does not feel his suffering. Presumably, those portions could have been well written. However, some of the brainstorming and its given writing seem not well-coordinated, and there are questions left unanswered, which give it a slightly messy approach.
Indeed, the work of the art department deserves a lot of credit. The brilliant production design is very evident in the Kerala and Kasi parts of the film, with tip of the hat to late director Balu Mahendra. Ilayaraja and his successor Yuvan Shankar Raja presents a wonderful, charming music which gives the feel of the place Pannaipuram of Theni district truly. However, it must be added that it is also Pannaipuram which is the native place of the Maestro.
Cast
1.Vijay Sethupathi
2.Gayathrie Shankar
3.Saravana Sakthi
4.Guru Somasundaram
5.Jewel Mary