'Maayavan' - A Novel Attempt

Producer C.V. Kumar in the past few years has introduced many a new talent and most of the films from his stable have been experimental but at the same time entertaining.  He has turned director with 'Maayavan' once again taking up a new idea in the SciFi genre and executing it fairly well but sadly pulled down by weak writing.

Kumaran (Sundeep Kishan) is a cop on duty who witnesses a murder committed by Dheena and gives chase and almost loses his life but luckily escapes after killing him.  He starts suffering delusions and sees a psychiatrist Athirai (Lavanya Tripathi) who helps him to face and deal with his trauma.  A few months later Kumaran once again visits a murder site of a famous actress Vimsha (Akshara Gowda) in the same style and the suspect is Gopi (Mime Gopi) her make up man who also seems to share shocking similarities with the first guy Dheena.  There is also a shady self help guru Rudran (Daniel Balaji) who is somehow connected with the serial murders and the investigation leads to a shocking revelation that could almost shake the entire world.

Sundeep Kishan dons the role of the troubled cop with ease and underplays it very effectively creating an impression that he is one among the current crop who could go places if he gets the right script.  Lavanya Tripathi possesses the perfect looks for the psychiatrist role and carries it quite convincingly.  Daniel Balaji gets to play the stylish self help guru and proves he is a veteran when he becomes the complete opposite as the investigation gains momentum.  Bhagavathi Perumal after a long time gets a sizeable role as Sundeep's assistant and does a neat job. Mime Gopi, Jeya Prakash, Dheena and Akshara Gowda round up the cast.  Jackie Shroff as the culmination of the villains hams it up and ends up as more of a caricature than a formidable foe.

The first half not only moves at a decent pace but also keeps the audience engrossed as the mystery heightens up.  Unlike most films the science is explained in simple terms which helps in the audiences relating to the unbelievable idea.   The immortality concept scientifically explored in the film is actually a reality with global conglomerates like Google, Oracle and others making headway in their researches as shown in the after credits which lends credibility to the film. The climax twist in the very end is rather intriguing.

On the downside an interesting character trait of Sundeep Kishan is established in the opening but it is not justified anywhere in the screenplay.  Once the villain and his motives are established the characters seem to be in a frenzy but the story is stuck and never moves forward.  Since nothing is at stake the villains moves do not affect the audience.  Overall the screenplay falls flat in the second half and only manages to peak at the very end.

Gopi Anand the art director is the real hero of 'Maayavan' for erecting flawless sets of the futuristic science lab of the villain which matches western standards.  The ever dependable Ghibran has again come up with a neat background score and his songs too pass muster minus the recall value.  Gopi Amarnath's cinematography and Leo John Paul's editing keeps the viewers interested even after the point when the script fails.  Nalan Kumaraswamy's flair is missing in the dialogues and the screenplay too is a letdown by his standards.  C.V. Kumar deserves praise for choosing a very new concept and researching it well, extracting fairly good performances from his cast and avoiding clichés.

Verdict : Go for it for the novel concept and fairly decent execution.