MASTER (2021)

Critic - No. 189

Director: Lokesh Kanagaraj

Produced by: XB Film Creators

Casts: Vijay, Vijay Sethupathi, Malavika Mohanan, Arjun Das, Andrea Jeremiah, Shanthanu Bhagyaraj

Language: Tamil

Music: Anirudh Ravichandar

Genre: Action, Thriller

 

SYNOPSIS: 

JD (Vijay), an alcoholic professor is sent to a juvenile school, where he clashes with a gangster, Bhavani (Vijay Sethupathi) who uses the children of the school for criminal activities.

 

REVIEW:

 

After a long wait by the team who were ready to release the film in April 2020, have gone through various stages of struggles to finally see the light. From the time the film was announced, Master has been stirring up great pre-talks as Lokesh who is known for his distinct new age storytelling is teaming up with Kollywood’s top ‘masala’ actor Vijay. Coming from two distinctive filmmaking styles, their success can definitely pave the way for more top actors to team up with younger filmmakers in future.

 

The film starts off with an intriguing prelude about Bhavani (Vijay Sethupathi, younger self played by Mahendran), who rises from a feeble orphan to a ruthless drug mafia with an iron fist (you will know what I mean if you watch the film). The portion, shot in a typical Lokesh’s style with black and red palette, thrillingly sets the mood for a racy action film. The film then flashes forward to introduce JD (Vijay), an alcoholic college professor who is well liked by the students, facing a few clashes in school election before being transferred to a juvenile jail as a teacher.

 

In an interview, director Lokesh had mentioned ‘Master’ would be a film that encompasses 50 percent of his filmmaking style and 50 percent of the regular commercial elements that you see in Vijay’s films. However, I felt Master was more of a Vijay film with just minor touches of director Lokesh’s filmmaking voice. Starting off with a strong note with Bhavani’s flashback, we see a casual, light-hearted intro of JD and his comical antics he does due to alcoholism in the first half of the film. The portion of JD in college is quite refreshing and we have never seen a vulnerable Vijay in recent time. Lokesh kind of humanises the larger than life actor during these portions which I really enjoyed, and the college scenes entails a genuine chaos regarding an election that looks organic than filmy. However, when we know that this section of the film doesn’t really impact much in the main story, we realise how much time (nearly a hour) has been wasted in the narrative which could have been channeled to create more layers in the clash between Bhavani and JD.

 

When JD arrives at the juvenile jail, the episodes gradually become filmier and the ‘masala’ treatment slowly slips in to overshadow the realistic treatment that existed in the earlier portions. I liked the way the triggering point for JD to turn over a new leaf was designed and the emotional note was very well engineered with a disturbing episode between Bhavani and the kids. However, after that inciting incident and a stunning interval, the film lingers too long in the second half with unnecessary fights that are forced to boost up JD into a larger than life character, dangerously approaching the same territory of previous Vijay’s films. Meanwhile, after a dream intro for Bhavani, the character doesn’t really get much build up to the final clash with generic scenes of him thrown in between, searching for JD. 

Anirudh’s songs are decently placed (except ‘Andha Kanna Paathaka’) and the remixed theme score of Ghilli gives something for Vijay’s fans to cheer. Cinematographer Sathyan Sooriyan complements well with Lokesh’s film language and palettes. The climax fight scene where the camera goes 360 degrees around JD and Bhavani is blood pumping. The final confrontation is exciting but it could have been much more celebratory if the stakes had been highly staged with some twists along the way. The main problem of the film is our detachment with JD’s thin under developed character which doesn’t allow us to root for his goals and the hurdles that come against it.  In short, the predictability and the tonal inconsistency is the main problem of Master that works against it’s promising concept. 

Vijay looks like he’s in his 30s with young energetic performance. He has underplayed at some parts and takes a slight diversion from his usual style. But the real show stealer is Vijay Sethupathi who has done a great job in playing a witty villain. Be it the comic one-liners or delivering his menace through his eyes, Sethupathi earns all the hard claps. Other good actors like Dheena, Arjun Das, Naasar and Shanthanu appear to be just strictly functional to move the proceedings. The two female leads Malavika and Andrea don't really have much things to do in the film with the latter used for an uncomfortably staged archery fight scene in the end. 

That said, Lokesh’s Master will definitely give Kollywod fans something to finally celebrate a classy commercial film in the theatres during this festive season, lifting the dampened spirits of Tamil Cinema. 

 

VERDICT:

Elevated by some power-house performances by the lead actors, Master is a thin but classy commercial film by Lokesh that crackles only at parts.

 

 

CELLULOID METER- 3/5: