Mahaan Review

Mahaan - Gives us back the Chiyaan Vikram we missed in recent years.

Vikram, who charmed the audience with his screen presence and astounded the fans with drastic transformations & mind-blowing acting skills, is fondly called 'Chiyaan' by the fans. He is considered one of the best Tamil actors of all time but the star ends up with forgettable films lately. Now, Chiyaan's 60th film 'Mahaan' brings back the Vikram we've always loved.

The plot follows the life of Gandhi Mahaan (Vikram), the son of a liquor-ban activist and a school teacher, abandoned by his wife Naachi (Simran) and son Dada (Dhruv) after he decides to live a life of his own, with personal freedom. Gandhi breaks bad to emerge as the king of the state's liquor empire with the help of his friend Sathyavan (Bobby Simha) and his son Rocky (Sananth). The trio launches a new liquor brand and tries to get into the monopoly with the help of their politician friend Gnanam (Muthukumar). The friends turn foes over some disagreements and Gnanam brings Gandhi's separated son Dada, who is a cop now, into the picture to avenge Gandhi and his gang. Whether Mahaan outsmarted his son to save his friends and family forms the rest of the story.

Chiyaan Vikram is the backbone of the movie backed by the fabulous performances, strong character sketches, stellar background score and the top-notch camera works. Vikram has literally ruled the screen as Gandhi Mahaan, who is a notorious gangster as well as a regretting father and grieving friend. We can get to see the 'Chiyaan' of the good old days from Gemini and Bheema in Mahaan again. On the other hand, Dhruv Vikram equals his father's performance by playing the villain to him as a wicked cop. Bobby Simha and Sananth also have carried their roles beautifully and given lives to the characters.

Meanwhile, it seems that Karthik Subburaj is back on track in writing relatable characters after a while. Although the basic line of the script is inspired by the world-famous show Breaking Bad, the director has penned a neat rooted version that connects us well. After the forgettable characters from his previous outing, Mahaan has superb character arcs crafted by Karthik Subburaj. On the downside, the screenplay loses its way in the latter half of the film but manages to feast us with a worthy climax sequence. Major portions work out well except for some overdramatic scenes and a low-key cat and mouse game between the father and son.

Santhosh Narayanan's songs and background score in Mahaan is not the composer's best but one of his finest soundtracks which keep us stay connected with the film. Though there was no unwanted romantic angle or song sequences, Mahaan would have been more awesome if the makers had gone with much better screenwriting and chopped off 20 minutes more while editing.

Verdict: Mahaan is a worthy gangster thriller to watch that marks the redemption of brilliant and natural acting from Chiyaan Vikram.