MAATRAAN FILM REVIEW

MAATRAAN (2012)

Director: K.V.Anand
Casts: Surya, Kajal Agarwal, Sachin Khadekar
Music: Harris Jeyraj
Language: Tamil
Genre: Action - Thriller

K.V.Anand – Surya – Harris Jeyaraj, a deadly combo which has tasted humungous success in Ayan, is back after 3 years, but this time, with a unique concept of ‘conjoined twins’. With the marketing aggressively active since the start of last year, the whole south Indian film buffs have been eagerly waiting for this film. So does Maatran keeps up to its expectations?

Synopsis

Vimalan and Agilan (Surya) are born to a famous genetic scientist, Ramachandran (Sachin Khadekar) who owns an energy drink company. Both brothers have contrasting characters and views of life. Ramachandran faces many competitors in his business and due to the series of murders of his competitors, doubt kicks in Vimalan’s mind. This pushes the screenplay forward as it travels on a thrilling spine then onwards.

Story Screenplay

K.V.Anand and Subha are one of the best content combos when it comes to delivering intelligent commercial entertainers. They have already proved it with Ayan and Ko, which definitely adds up to the existing expectation. Everyone knows that the film is based on the conjoined twins but what really spices up the concept is the way K.V.Anand have designed the both characters. Surya looks ideal to play such a challenging character and scores in every department of screen presence. The small things such as the costume, style, dialogue delivery and even the favourite actor (Ajith-Vijay) have been very well taken care off.

When we arrow down to the story, is actually a pretty simple and a tested one too, which deals with son who tries to prove his father’s fraud in his profession which affects the whole nation. A normal revenge story is well laced with humour, romance and loads of action. Be it the witty one liner or the naturally written punches, writer duo Subha oozes with creativity.

The first half moves in a very rapid pace and keeps the audience glued to their seat. I can safely say that when the film hits the interval mark, we expect the film to be K.V.Anand’s best. But the rude shock comes in when the second half moves in a mundanely slow pace. It shift gears to foreign places and gets tangled in a dead knot which K.V.Anand struggles to untie. The concept on genetic engineering and the whole history of the sportsmen who have been affected by the genetic product gets too draggy, distrupting the engaging factor of the film. Even in Ayan, K.V.Anand fell for some cinematic liberties but in this he seems to have misused them to make his film engaging (e.g. theme park fight, climax etc.) However explaining further might give away key plot line. The romantic tracks other than the ones in the first half, falls flat.

In overall, if not for Subha’s dialogues and good set up in first half, Maatran is rich in message but thin in expression.   

Casting & Performance

It is undoubtedly Surya’s show all the way as his hard work is evident in every single scene he appears. He carries the film on his shoulder most of the time and one could wonder how he has done the dance and stunt sequences of the conjoined twins. Hats off to this versatile actor.  Next is Sachin Khedakar who looks ideal for such a meandering character. However, his inaccuracy of lip sync is obvious at times, and of course, the blame is not entirely his too. Kajal Agarwal looks stunning and does really well in the dance sequences. 

However, due to the poor portrayal of her character, she loses her credibility. For example, in a moment when she needs to be shock the most, she is not even shown emoting. It is quite shocking to see how twisting her character is too.

As the film travels mainly among these four characters, other supporting casts are not really emphasized which rarely happens in K.V.Anand’s films.

Technicality

Technicality is always where K.V.Anand’s film scores and Maatran is no exception. Firstly the visual effects team have come up with a decent portrayal of the conjoined twins, especially in the stunt sequences. The small obvious glitches at songs and certain shots can be overlooked taking into consideration, the stunning attempt itself by the team. Soundar Rajan’s cinematography is neat and clean especially during the song sequences which certainly are a bunch of visual treat (*an important saving grace of the film). 

However, Editor Anthony’s cuts are draggy at the second half and too much of prolong shots sticks out too during the stunt sequences which might test the audiences. Harris Jeyraj’s BGM sounds repetitive while his songs disappoint.

In overall, a well collaborated team of brilliantly talented technicians with inconsistent results. 

Conclusion

K.V.Anand have attempted to make another intelligent thriller but falls for commercial temptations giving way to too much of cinematic liberties. However, writer duo Subha’s sharp dialogues and Surya’s astonishing performance salvages Maatran from ending up as purely a gimmick.

Verdict: Brilliant talents + diluted content = Inconsistent results

Rating: 3/5