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Machakaran
– Movie Review |
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Behindwoods
Movie Review Board |
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Machakaran
Cast
: Jeevan, Kamna Jethmalani, Malavika, M.S. Baskar
Direction: Tamilvaanan
Music: Yuvan Shankar Raja
Production: Madras Entertainments |
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Director
Tamizhvaanan has tried to play it safe banking on Jeevan's
not so good guy image. Just that he has delivered a predictable
fare. Sometimes playing safe has its drawbacks as well. Especially
when you have a script that seems a little too hackneyed. |
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Jeevan
plays the regular jobless no-good dud - who is a college
dropout with a few arrears to be completed - and son
of a rail ticket inspector essayed by Vinod Rajan,
who played his uncle in Thiruttu Payalae. Jeevan finds
himself in the wrong place at the wrong time always,
sheer coincidence you are made to believe. It all
begins with him trying to help a couple start their
bike when they had lost their keys. He only realizes
later that he just helped someone steal a bike. Kamna
enters the story at this juncture and is witness to
the happenings; she goes out to save Jeevan from what
could have landed him at the police station. A chain
of such events in a few more similar situations makes
Kamna fall for Jeevan.
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Soon
enough, Kamna takes Jeevan home to her textile business family.
The family accepts Jeevan and arranges for their wedding,
which is stopped by Jeevan’s father who questions the
family’s responsibility of marrying off their daughter
to a loser like Jeevan. This is followed by a series of planned
incidents to trap Jeevan in the most unlikely of situations.
Jeevan soon figures out that there is a design to all this
and that it is Kamna’s father played by G.M. Kumar who
is behind most of these and vows to take revenge. He challenges
Kamna’s brother to stop their marriage and escapes with
Kamna to a safe place. Kumar accuses Jeevan of having kidnapped
his daughter and even ends up threatening his father for abetting
it. How Jeevan gets away with it and how he wrecks vengeance
against Kamna’s father forms the rest of the story. |
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Jeevan
carries off his role with ease, except in the song
sequences where it is obvious that he isn’t
comfortable when it comes to shaking a leg, probably
the reason why two songs have been shot as montages.
It is time he decided to try different roles other
than the ones with negative shades; it does seem clichéd.
Kamna doesn’t have too much scope to perform;
the little she is offered doesn’t say much of
her histrionics either. G.M. Kumar as her father lends
credibility to the role. Santhana Bharathy and Kalai
Rani as Kamna’s paternal uncle and aunt deserve
applause for their performances. Santhanam’s
comedy isn’t too funny either, though M.S.Bhaskar
and Mayilsamy makeup for it in the latter half of
the movie.
The
screenplay is not meant for a movie that lasts about
two and a half hours as you find that too much time
is spent on establishing the characters and it takes
quiet a while to take off. Yuvan’s music doesn’t
seem too impressive either. Cinematography by A.Venkatesh
blends well with the movie.
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The
movie starts off sluggishly and gathers momentum in the second
half but lacks suspense. Jeevan’s witty ploys do appear
interesting to a point beyond which it gets predictable. Tamizhvaanan’s
attempt cannot be written off completely but he could have been
bolder in his scene construction than his earlier fare Kalvanin
Kaadhali or should we say it was just as good?. |
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Verdict - Time pass, if you have enough
to spare
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