In every Venkat Prabhu movie, one could see a lot of fun accompanied by a slight dose of love and affection related portions. But as far as Massu Engira Maasilamani is concerned, there is an equal balance of fun and love. Strong emotions conveyed in the movie, linger in one’s mind even after watching the movie.
So far we have seen Suriya chasing and thrashing goons in his recent releases. But in this movie, we get to see a Suriya who gets frightened and chased by ghosts. This kind of flexibility from Suriya has helped Venkat Prabhu to render fresh outputs to Tamil Cinema. Suriya as usual, stamps his authority in acting. He convincingly speaks Ceylon Tamil. It’s a delight to see a class act from Suriya in the character that has a pony tail. This character is along the lines of the handsome vampire characters that we do see in Hollywood movies. Suriya has not only offered space to the script but also has given ample scope to other artists as the script demands. But there are too many references to other actors, with whom Suriya enjoys more or less the same star status, in this movie. Despite Surya being a huge star, there is a feeling that he has relied too much on other stars. Even third and fourth line stars were used for the audio launch.
Nayanthara has helped the script to move further in the beginning of the movie. But after that she doesn’t have much screen presence. This seems to be a disappointment to many of this female star’s fans. Pranitha does her brief stint in a decent way.
It is good to see Venkat Prabhu projecting Premji in the right way. In many scenes, one could see his character blended with the story line properly. After a long time, here comes a consistent comedienne, Vidyullekha Raman. She seems to be cementing the void that has been left behind by Manorama and Kovai Sarala as both have moved on to the next level.
It is refreshing to see Samuthirakani in a villain role after Subramaniapuram. Parthiepan’s character has been etched out well. Till the end of the movie, he seems to be loyal only to his policy. This kind of characterisation and his usual witty dialogues delight the audience much.
Watching a Venkat Prabhu’s movie with Yuvan’s musical portrayal is always like having a bread and omelette. Rest of whatever is shown in the movie has always been an additional flavour. This combo hasn’t disappointed us this time too. Pick of the songs by most people seems to be the Mesmerising ‘Piravi’, Energetic ‘Therikkudhu Mass’ and the Spooky ‘Poochandi’. BGM has lifted the vigour of many scenes thereby creating some goosebumps.
One has to appreciate Venkat Prabhu for his courage to present a story, that has been told in Tamil Cinema for a while, studded with different ideas here and there. The way the director has portrayed the demeanour of Suriya in both the roles is something different. But many among the audience found it difficult to accept the attempt. Another bold attempt is to maintain the demeanour of the ghosts, same as that of the humans. Second half was handled by Venkat Prabhu in a more emotional manner. This seems to be the most responsible attempt from the director. This is something that has clicked with the family and the mature audience but not with the entertainment expecting sect of the audience. The director injects many of his creative ideas like the cameo by Jai in the second half. But such kind of scenes just disturbs the flow of the movie. A scene like that is not necessary in a song like Piravi which is already driving the audience’s emotions.
Even though many ideas are inspired from Hollywood movies, they have been used well in apt places with the director’s input being stuffed into them. These inspirations are just going to remind the people who have seen the Hollywood versions but not the people who haven’t watched them so far. Some netizens should not take this as a weapon to demote a hard tried attempt.
There are people who always raise their voice to see a change in the way the movies are being shot. But when a different attempt is being delivered, they just say that whatever entertained them in the conventional attempts are missing in this new try. Really this is a hard scenario for a director and the other people involved in the creative department of a movie. For sure, Massu Engira Maasilamani is not a conventional attempt. Conventional story said in a different way is the best way to describe the movie.
