Madura Veeran Movie Review

Cast: Shanmuga Pandian, Samuthirakani, Meenakshi, Bala Saravanan, Vela Ramamoorthy, Mime Gopi, PL Thenappan & others

Music: Santhosh Dhayanidhi

Art Direction: Videsh

Editing: Praveen KL

Stunts: Stunner Sam

Executive Producer: Kirubakaran Ramasamy

Cinematography, Written & Directed by: PG Muthiah

Run Time: 02:01:00

Release Date – 02-02-2018

Madura Veeran is a fairly good village drama which is centered on the valorous sport, Jallikattu, and the values and pride of Tamils. How the courageous sport is still affected by caste politics in certain regions is showcased beautifully by cameraman-turned-director PG Muthaiah, who has made a good filmmaking debut.

The film revolves around Durai (Shanmugapandian), who returns from Malaysia to his hometown to fulfill his father’s dream of conducting Jallikattu jointly with the entire neighborhood villages without any caste disparity.

Muthaiah’s rivetingly-staged portions of the Jallikattu sport and the massive preparations behind the same offer an insightful viewing for audiences, who have never witnessed the game in person. The nuts and bolts of Jallikattu and the intricate caste politics behind it are narrated beautifully, and Muthaiah wins it without much ado.

Samuthirakani’s towering performance as the righteous, honest village headman is the film’s biggest strength. He has the significant screen time in the movie, including a lengthy but nicely-constructed flashback where he gets to mouth some socially-responsible lines. However, the dialogues delivered by Samuthirakani, this time, are neither preachy nor over-the-top. The reason could be attributed to the film’s Jallikattu theme to which Tamils are emotionally attached to and the subtle but relevant lines penned by Muthaiah, with the help of veteran writer Jeyamohan. Whenever Samuthirakani appears on screen, he pulls off a mass image which only a few supporting actors can command among his contemporaries.

Muthaiah’s careful portrayal of his lead hero Shanmugapandian is another calculated move, which has appeared in favor of the filmmaker. The understated role for Shanmugapandian makes us root for the story and not for any particular character in the film. Except for the incoherent story-telling, which is resolved in the second half with an interesting plot twist, everything about Madura Veeran is decently done with some care.

Another hero of the film, next to Samuthirakani, is composer Santhosh Dayanidhi. He has produced a fine soundtrack, that perfectly suits the film’s milieu and has impressed with a remarkable background score, especially the theme track for Samuthirakani whenever the camera zooms on his majestic walk.

For Thalapathy Vijay fans, the star’s speech during the Jallikattu Marina protests appears in a crucial portion of the film and here’s a chance to relive his goosebumps-inducing video message, where he took a dig at PETA, on the big screen.

Madura Veeran Movie Review Rating: 3/5

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