There are some clever plot points. But these aren’t consistently integrated into the writing, and the film eventually turns into a numbing stretch of action. The rest of this review may contain spoilers.
On the surface, the new film from AR Murugadoss is about a gang of bad guys bringing a huge number of guns into Tamil Nadu. The idea is to introduce “gun culture” and create anarchy. In an openly political statement, someone says that there was just illegally brewed liquor in the state at one point. But now that liquor sales have been legalised, it’s so much easier to become an alcoholic. Similarly, if guns become easily available, the goons who wield knives can begin pumping bullets into people. Heck, even ordinary citizens may begin to hoard guns and use them to vent their anger. Vidyut Jamwal and Shabeer Kallarakkal play the villains, and they’re both solid within their generic outlines. It’s always a joy to watch Vidyut execute action moves, and he gets a few good scenes to show off his stuff.
But there’s another angle Madharaasi is about, and that involves Raghu, played by Sivakarthikeyan. In a Ghajini-esque twist, the man has a “mental problem”. He suffers from delusions. It’s always a great idea to have a hero with a handicap, because that raises the stakes. Raghu is no regular leading man, who can fight twenty people all at once. If he can fight twenty people, it’s because of the trauma he carries. This trauma gives him the superpower, so to speak, to become a saviour and a vigilante. And in the film’s best bit of writing, this trauma goes away when Raghu falls in love with Malathi (Rukmini Vasanth). Murugadoss is brilliant at coming up with these very commercial “knots”, and here, we have this terrific premise: What if falling in love heals you to the extent that it strips away the one thing that made you unique?
But Madharaasi doesn’t push this premise as much as it should. The romantic bits are not bad, but also feel like they are not necessary. At least, they feel like they should have been sharper and less generic. But Sivakarthikeyan is good as a man who walks around looking slightly… “off.” The character keeps saying he wants to die, and these parts are made to look funny. (At one point, when Raghu threatens to jump off a bridge, a crowd gathers below to take videos.) At first, it feels like Raghu is doing a comedy track, like in one of the older commercial movies. But slowly, we learn about his condition and Sivakarthikeyan’s earnest performance begins to click. And then there is the angry side to Raghu, like when he uses a knife and hurts innocent bystanders. This rage, too, is conveyed with conviction.
The plot kicks in when the cop played by Biju Menon recruits the suicidal Raghu for a mission involving those guns. This is when you want the screenplay to explode with a combination of Raghu’s delusions plus his romance plus the mini war against gun culture. But the film never comes together. The first half is all set-up, and even in its generic state, it is somewhat watchable. But the second half turns into one long action stretch, and Madharaasi becomes monotonous. There are zero surprises, and the hero’s handicap does not figure in much. Raghu becomes yet another regular hero who can bring down twenty guys all at once. The part where we are asked to guess who the mole is on both sides is not very exciting. The part about “animal instinct” is not fleshed out well. The main trouble, I think, is the length. Madharaasi may have played well at two hours, but it’s almost forty-five minutes longer. The good news? It’s much better, much more coherent than Darbar and Sikandar. But… is that enough?
