A familiar sport, a familiar underdog story and a familiar caste feud; yet the way the director has brought them together makes this film worth watching. Dhruv Vikram is passionate about playing Kabbadi in school. His father dissuades him because of their social status. How Dhruv becomes successful against all odds forms the basic plot. This would have been a boring predictable film if the director had approached it linearly. Director, Mari Selvaraj knows that and hence starts with Dhruv being a part of the Indian team playing Asian games and then narrates how he reached there. Dhruv has undergone a fantastic transformation and shines in the lead role. Pasupathy comes up with another award deserving performance as his dad. Ameer and Lal play their part well. While you expect Mari to talk about casteism and suppression, he has managed to make it interesting with different type of a conflict. Music by Nivas is very good. The period film also needs to be commended for the art direction and cinematography. The film at almost 3 hr run time appears stretched and sometimes tests our patience. Especially, some repetitive fights and scenes could have been avoided.
