A powerful film from Mari Selvaraj that could have been a lot better if only the director had not tried hard. This film is just the opposite of what Mari spoke in his previous film. This film is also about casteism. Dhanush is Karnan. The people in his village are suppressed by the neighbouring upper caste village and even the bus doesn’t stop in their village. This simple problem causes a lot of inconvenience to his people and even loss of life. What happens when his anger reaches the tipping point forms the basic plot. Maari’s previous hero was against violence, Dhanush in Asuran also spoke against violence but in this film he has decided that it doesn’t make sense to keep looking down and that it is time to look up. While this is contradictory, it still is convincing and that is credit to the directors story telling ability and strong dialogues. Where the film fails is the slow narrative that tests your patience in the first half. On top of that the director tries to convey too many things through directorial touches and metaphors which beyond a point gets unbearable. A limping donkey, wiggling earthworms, a fish that bites the hook, a butterfly trying to get out of a police station, a horse, an elephant, the girl with an idol head…oh my God, why should Mari try so hard when this is only his second film. While police atrocities have been well shot, the scenes leading to it and the climax is unconvincing. Santosh Narayanan’s music though good stands out and makes certain scenes unreal (especially the songs). Kudos to the cameraman. Dhanush, Lal and everyone have played the role to perfection. Yogi Babu as an aged person in a serious role…seriously there is no one else to play this role? I like movies that talk for the voiceless but I sincerely hope that Mari also explores other genres without confining himself.
