After his successful stints in romcoms Udhayanidhi Stalin is trying his hand at serious roles and after 'Gethu' he has chosen to remake 'Jolly LLB' as Manithan’ which gives ample scope for him to prove his potential as an actor.
Shakthi (Udhayanidhi) is an unsuccessful young lawyer in ‘Pollachi’ who is the laughing stock of his family and colleagues. The one person who believes in him is his longtime girlfriend Priya (Hansika Motwani). Fed up of being the loser Shakthi leaves to Chennai to stay with his uncle Vivekh vowing to become a high court lawyer. After many failures in Chennai just as he decides to go back home he meets Vijay (Krishna Kumar) who wants him to go for a public litigation against a drunk billionaire who mows down and kills six platform dwellers in his car and escapes the law with the help of famed criminal lawyer Aadhi Sheshan (Prakash Raj). The rest of the screenplay deals with how Shakthi overcomes the mighty Aadhi Sheshan.
For the first time in his career Udhayanidhi has got a meaty role with various shades and he has put in a sincere effort throughout and comes good as the loser who fumbles his way taking on the might of a formidable enemy managing success only at the very end. Hansika is a mere decoration in this film and barring the song sequences her appearances hinder rather than help the proceedings. Aishwarya Rajesh has a role of substance as Jennifer the journalist with a conscience and does a neat job. Prakash Raj hams it up as Aadhi Seshan and reminds us of so many of his previous performances. With very little humor on offer Vivekh is just there. It is Radha Ravi ,who steals the show during all the court proceedings sequences and he saves his best for the climax where he is an absolute scream.
Santhosh Narayanan is the music director of ‘Manithan’ and his songs and BGM no doubt carry his rich signature, but at the same time also evoke a feeling of familiarity and one feels he should be warned against falling into the trap of repetitiveness. Madhi’s cinematography is a big plus while Manikandan Balaji’s editing leaves a lot to be desired. Ajayan Bala's dialogues are the big plus for the film. The dialogues make the right impact, especially in the courtroom scenes.
Director Ahmed, who completely captivated the viewer with the well written and aesthetically executed ‘Endrendrum Punnagai’ has sadly managed a much less engaging ‘Manithan’ and maybe he lost it in translation. While we can appreciate him for making a clean film with a strong message consisting more than a few good scenes the uneven pacing and inconsistent characterizations prevent it from working as a whole.
Verdict : You can watch ‘Manithan’ as it is completely free of vulgarity and obscenity and for showing the plight of the platform dwellers.
Comments