What’s it about:
Set in the world of Tamil Nadu politics, it shows the lives of 3 young men, a student leader Michael, a ruffian Inba and a typical city youngster Arjun.
Michael wants to serve the people of TN and he shuns even the high profile scholarships that he gets. He inspires all his college mates and the villagers of Neykaaranpatti. He has a lover and is supported by his concerned mom and 2 sisters.
Minister Selvanayagam panics due to Michael’s proactive stand and he takes the help of gangsters like Inba to somehow curtail Michael’s growth. Inba has a troubled relationship with his wife and is caught up between his wife and his own greedy money minded intentions.
Arjun is hell-bent on going to the US and but he changes his mind after a shootout by Inba to Michael. Arjun saves Michael and he gets inspired by Michael’s ideals and he also joins politics along with Michael and his gang. Arjun has a nice lover Meera and his father and brother to support him.
In the end, the team of 4 youngsters lead by Michael wins in their respective constituencies and is shown entering the assembly.
Hits
- The same incidents shown from the 3 protagonists’ points of view, is something very new to Tamil cinema. Very novel and classy handling of the screenplay by Mani Ratnam.
- A.R.Rahman comes up with one of his best ever scores, both the songs and the BGM. The title track in particular gives goose bumps all over.
- The 3 heroes are dashing and apt to the core. Suriya as Michael is a dynamo and is aggressive as the ambitious young leader. Madhavan as the local ruffian Inba looks macho and is a real natural as the gangster . Siddharth as the carefree youngster turned politician Arjun is competent too.
- The 3 heroines look beautiful and have their parts too. Meera Jasmine, a terrific actress is obviously the best of the 3. As the concerned and emotional wife Sasi, she is top class. Trisha is very cute and emotes well. Esha is also very cute and like-able.
- Some very good support characters. Bharathiraja as the politician is very natural and utterly believable. The lady who is a sisterly figure to Sasi is again very natural. Sreeman as Dilli, Inba's friend and well wisher is first class. Other characters like Michael's mother and his sisters are all life like too. All the other student politicians make an impact too.
- The sound design is top class. The sound effects for the fight scenes in particular make a supreme impact
- Some of the stunts are awesome. Michael’s first stunt and his stunt with Inba on the broken bridge are superb
Misses
- The graphics during Michael’s shootout are tacky
- The climax fight on Napier Bridge is also very amateurish.
- After the 3 protagonists’ perspective sequences, the movie somehow loses grip and fails to inspire.
VERDICT
Deserved a better run. The making style is supreme. Kudos to the master Mani Ratnam for bringing together such a star cast and giving them equal footage.
