BEHINDWOODS COLUMN

Maan Karate, which released on April 4, 2014, had made a star out of our boy next door Siva Karthikeyan – considering both the reception and collection the movie has received – inching him closer to the league of the top actors of Tamil Cinema. The movie managed to pull together 1.41 crores in its opening weekend in Chennai city – the number is a tad more than what Ilayathalapathy Vijay’s Jilla and Thala Ajith’s Veeram managed to do in their opening weekend in Chennai city.
 

It is to be noted that both Jilla and Veeram released on the same day, and ate into each other’s revenue. And, there is no denying that had the movies had solo releases, their numbers would have set individual records each.
 

A lot of factors had played its part in Maan Karate’s success - it had almost all the shows of the big screens of the city, it had big names – the bubbly Hansika Motwani, the latest hit machine Anirudh (and his chartbuster songs), India’s most happening director AR Murugadoss (and his fun - fantasy story), and the hero Siva Karthikeyan.
 

For any other hero, who had just entered his fourth year in the industry, this humungous number sure would come as a surprise. But not for Siva – he, in every bit, deserves this success. By far, he had been the most successful star of 2013. All his three releases of 2013 – Kedi Billa Killadi Ranga, Ethir Neechal and Varuthapadatha Valibar Sangam – had been profitable ventures.
 

However, those three were better movies, and were loved by the audience. Maan Karate, on the other hand, had a lot of people complaining about its illogical script and the utter lack of sincerity in handling the game – boxing, which formed the basic crux of the story.
 

Does this trend augur well for cinema?
 

Considering the art form cinema is, such mundanity can only bring down the hard work of the other novel creators of the industry. However, movies like Maan Karate run the business of cinema. And, without business, the art form cannot exist.
 

That brings us to our primary question – Did Maan Karate deserve the business that it did?
 

In the movie, there is a scene where a survey – ‘Who is the people’s champion (to win the boxing tournament)?’ – is taken between the never-boxed-before ‘Maan Karate’ Peter (Siva Karthikeyan) and the forever-boxer ‘Killer’ Peter (Vamsi Krishna).
 

88% had voted in favor not for 'Killer' Peter, who had trained all his life to be the boxing champion, but for our hero ‘Maan Karate’ Peter, who didn't even know Boxing was a sport.
 

The votes are justified because ‘Maan Karate’ Peter entertains. Families had thronged to watch his matches to get entertained, and that – the audience’s support – had translated as votes.
 

The same holds true for Maan Karate as well. Let the debate whether the movie deserved the feat it has achieved go on - but the feat was inevitable, for it entertains!
 

Just as ‘Maan Karate’ Peter says, “After all, Makkal theerpe, Mahesan theerpu (It’s the mandate of people that is the real final).”
 

Mithun
Follow @Mith_Si