Films that have problems with the censor board get free publicity mileage and ‘Metro’ directed by Anand Krishnan is one such film which has drummed up curiosity due to the CBFC giving it an ‘A’ certificate citing the reason that the film “teaches” chain snatching to the public. The team does not disappoint in delivering a gripping thriller in great detail about the subject matter.
The film opens with Arivu(Shirish) torturing a man tied to a chair demanding information about a gold consignment and then after very authentic sequences about chain snatching gangs the flashback opens. Arivu is a reporter who with his friend Kumar (Sendrayan) works for a newspaper as a reporter. Arivu’s father is a retired police officer, his mother (Thulasi) a housewife and brother Madhi (Satya) is a college student. Madhi’s college sweetheart pesters him to buy a fancy bike and cellphone to match other rich students, but his father and brother cannot afford the brands he asks for and this causes him to take a drastic step into a crime which leads to tragic results for the entire family.
Bobby Simha as the rogue villain Guna has very little screen time, but makes his presence felt with his intense performance. Much like Assault Sethu he is so much at home playing the baddie Guna that one wonders if that’s what he should do more of. Shirish as Arivu has given a neat performance, be it in the sentimental scenes with his family or the close- to- life action scenes. The story of ‘Metro’ revolves around the character Madhi played by Satya for which both the actor and the director can take credit. Satya with very ordinary looks and a nasal tone brings to life an everyday boy who can change into a hardcore murderer and criminal when he takes the bait of easy money. Sendrayan in the beginning scenes is menacing and shows a daker side and later comes good as a loyal friend who will do anything for his friend’s family. Maya as Shirish’s girlfriend has a blink and you miss role while Thulasi has given another noteworthy performance as the boys’ mother. Yogi Babu gets one scene and succeeds in tickling the funny bones. The director has extracted uniformly good performances from all the actors in the film.
Cinematographer N.S. Udhayakumar is the backbone of ‘Metro’ who has set a raw tone that the script demands and maintained it throughout. Many shots like the mother’s photograph reflecting on the table upside down and the first bike ride of Sathya for a crime captured clumsily from the beach water drive home the point. M.Ramesh Bhaarathi is responsible for some slick editing that adds to the thrill and the extreme top angle zoom out wide shots of Chennai often used to register the metro is brilliant. Though the songs by Johan don’t have any recall value they are an integral part of the story telling and his re-recording too is apt. Director Ananda Krishnan should be appreciated for sticking to the core issue and not deviating at all. Dialogues are both realistic as well as stylish from even minor characters in the film. Great research has been put in to perfectly bring to the screens, the modus operandi of chain snatchers and kudos for the detailing along with the art director.
‘Metro’ is good on the execution, but some glaring loopholes in the screenplay pull it down from becoming a great film. The rise of Sathya as a criminal is well documented, but will his family be completely unaware of his changes, especially when he rides a very costly bike and brags to his friends that 25 lakhs per month is not enough to support his lifestyle. The family bonding between Shirish and his parents is shown but not between Satya and the other members and hence in the climax when the brothers are at each other’s throats the desired effect is completely nullified. The screenplay, which is for most parts realistic, changes tracks when Shirish turns into a filmi action hero who quite easily walks into the Gold mafia’s den killing the henchmen like a walk in the park while the same den is shown as impenetrable in the first half. The director is complaining about the ‘A’ certificate, but the predominant graphic violence and liberal usage of drugs is definitely not for universal viewing either.
Go for the realistic portrayal of a real life menace, chain snatching that Is told in a raw and fast paced manner.
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