MAARAN (2022)
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| Critic No. 271 |
Director: Karthick Naren
Written by: Karthick Naren, Suhas, Sharfu, Vivek
Produced by: Sathya Jyothi Films
Casts: Dhanush, Ramki, Malavika Mohanan, Smruthi Venkat, Samuthirakani, Ameer
Music: G.V. Prakash Kumar
Language: Tamil
Genre: Action / Thriller
SYNOPSIS:
Madhimaaran Sathyamoorthy (Dhanush) is an honest investigative journalist. When he uncovers a scam, the professional risks start threatening his personal happiness
REVIEW:
Karthick Naren had a flying start with Dhurvangal Pathinaru (2016) which can be easily classified as one of the best thrillers made in Tamil cinema. While the young filmmaker's second flick Naragasooran is still waiting to see the light of the day, the follow-up Mafia: Chapter 1 (2020) was sleek but ultimately underwhelming. He showed signs of rediscovering his form with Project Agni, the mind-bending sci-fi short that was part of the anthology Navarasa (2021). From the day of the shoot, there were also controversies swarming over ‘Maaran’ with sources stating that the director has fallen out of the project midway but eventually the rumours were dismissed. So does ‘Maaran’ bring back Karthick Naren to form under a large banner?
The story is centered around Mathimaaran (Dhanush), a crime reporter who insists on speaking truth to power, following in the footsteps of his father Sathyamoorthy (Ramki), who lost his life after exposing a controversial truth during his stint as a journalist as well. Maaran is fearless to a fault and is concerned only about telling the truth. With help from his cop friend Arjun (KK), he brings to light a scam, involving fake voting machines, being planned by former minister Pazhani (Samuthirakani), who is trying to reclaim his past glory. That sets out a rift between Maaran and Pazhani, threatening the safety of his beloved sister (Smruthi).
By reading the synopsis, one might already sense how dated it sounds but can lift it is the treatment. But Karthick doesn’t even look like he is interested in turning this cliche screenplay any different. As a film about investigative journalism, the film hardly has any adventurous scenes that show the real work of a reporter. We are thrown back-to-back scenes of tweets of Maaran and his overnight fame moments which clearly shows the thin research the film consists of. No situations really carry any authenticity of establishing the world of journalism. This momentum follows up even during the parts where Maaran’s sister is kidnapped and he stays as a passive protagonist, waiting for things to happen or be magically solved. Then comes in the 2 twists in act 2 that can be hardly called a narrative turn given that they can be predicted miles away.
By the time we hit the final showdown between Maaran and his enemy, we hardly can connect with the triumph of Maaran due to the thinly written characters and the lifeless screenplay. The climax showdown feels shockingly amateurish with so many continuity problems within the fight sequences as well. I don’t think anyone can buy the reason given by the secret killer revealed in the end and it results in an unintentional joke the director throws at us for deciding to watch the film. It is actually good that the film skipped a theatrical release as I cannot imagine the catastrophic loss it would have given the producer.
So what works? Dhanush tries his best at some parts to keep us engaged but we can clearly see how surface-level his emotions are at important parts. Smruthi and Malavika as the female leads are just okay with the former sparkling with the promising display during the initial bonding scenes with Dhanush. Samuthirakani is a miscast as a stereotypical politician who looks like he is straight out of a 90s Sarathkumar film. I really liked how the film started with a sincerely shot prologue with a long-lost terrific actor Ramki. It set out a very emotional tone to the film that the film missed capitalizing on. Thankfully, unlike in Annaatthe (2021), there is a bit of post-modernness to the brother-sister relationship. The director tries to keep melodrama to a minimum here which connects well at parts. G.V. Prakash’s ‘Chittu Kuruvi’ song is well used to keep us engaged at some important emotional notes the director staggers to establish.
VERDICT:
‘Maaran’ is a half-baked attempt with a shoddy screenplay and lethargic performances that is nowhere near the brilliance of the talented filmmaker Karthick Naren.
CELLULOID METER- 2/5:
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