Maaveeran Review: Sivakarthikeyan delivers a knockout performance in Madonne Ashwin's entertaining joy ride

3.5/5

Story: A cartoonist from a lower middle class family receives an unusual power overnight, which changes his life altogether.

Review: It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that Sivakarthikeyan has arrived as a mass hero with Maaveeran. In Madonne Ashwin's film, he fires on all cylinders. One moment, he is a timid cartoonist Sathya, who only wants to protect his mother (Saritha) and sister (Monisha Blessy) and the next moment, he takes on his nemesis, like a streetsmart fighter and they fall like a pack of flies. The way he effortlessly switches from an underdog and to a superhero of sorts, is a delight to watch.

Maaveeran revolves around a reticent and timid cartoonist Sathya (Sivakarthikeyan), who is forced to shift his residence from a shanty to a towering housing block along with other families in the locality. But when they arrive at the new housing block, they realise that they have been taken for a ride as the building is shoddily constructed. Sathya chooses not to make a big deal about it and asks his family to 'adjust'. But things take a different turn one night as Sathya receives an unusual power as he begins to hear a voice and begins to exhibit bizarre behaviour.

Madonne Ashwin's Maaveeran has all the ingredients for a complete commercial potboiler. The first half of the film is a showstealer (though a tad long) and has some heavy-duty mass moments and witty one liners which makes it thoroughly entertaining. Vijay Sethupathi's arrival, albeit only as a voice with the line, 'Veerame Jayam',elevates the film to a different level. In fact, his lines and voice are a huge plus to the part-fantasy drama.

The interval arrives much later, and the film takes a serious turn thereafter with some lags and a predictable climax that could have been etched out better. However the action scenes in the film, especially the one on the boat and the finale, quite make up for it. The action sequences are quite impactful and the director plays to the gallery.

While Vidhu Ayanna's camerawork deserves a special mention, the BGM and songs by Bharath Shankar, do not really stay in your minds, barring Vaa Veera.

The biggest strength of Maaveeran is its writing and execution,  peppered with some earnest performances of the star cast. After Sivakarthikeyan's excellent performance, it's Yogi Babu, who steals the show. The ace comedian, who is only referred to as 'Patch' in the film, has the audience eating of his hands as he delivers one sharp-witted line after the other. His very presence is so entertaining that the moment you see him, you begin to expect a punch dialogue from him and he doesn't disappoint.

Mysskin may not be as ruthless as a politician one expected him to be, but he engages as a villain with a comic element. In fact, his funny liners, 'Enna Nanba' work better that the serious ones and strike a chord instantly. In the limited scenes that Aditi Shankar has in the film, she manages to impress with her no-nonsense acting. It's refreshing to see Saritha as the doting mother, who has absolutely no qualms about calling a spade a spade. Giving her apt company is television actress Monisha Blessy, who pulls off a decent performance.

To sum it up, after the debacle of his previous outing Prince, Sivakarthikeyan couldn't have asked for a better comeback than Maaveeran.The role of Sathya is tailor-made for Sivakarthikeyan and he is out there all guns blazing.

Verdict: Madonne Ashwin's Maaveeran is laced with a gripping screenplay, hilarious one-liners, mass moments and some fantastic performances. While the role of Sathya seems to be tailor-made for Sivakarthikeyan, Yogi Babu, Mysskin and Saritha's performances, too, pack a punch. And needless to say, Vijay Sethpathi's voiceover elevates the film to a different level. In short, Maaveeran is a delight to watch.