Mafia Movie Review

Karthick Naren impressed one and all with his directorial debut in D16, and here he is with his next film in Mafia, an ultra-stylized film that seeds in all the details at its own pace and then goes all guns blazing at the end. The film moves at a steady pace right until the end, making you ask for a big blow and then handing it over at the very end.

Mafia is basically bent on the clash of two titans on the two sides of the law, and what happens before they come face to face with each other. The film has a very basic and thin plot, and sticks to the basics when it comes to the screenplay structure and the ideas that it puts to use. Karthick does not take any risks in the first two acts of his narrative, giving us a straightforward narrative that does not have much depth. Arun Vijay gets to play a perfect officer who doesn’t make even a single wrong move until you know it, and probably that’s the reason why Karthick could not play around with his different dimensions on the whole. The first half is tidy but the real fun comes alive only in the final 40 minutes of the film, which pay heed to the Easter Eggs and the ultimate reveal.

Credit goes to Arun Vijay for flawlessly carrying out the role of the smart narcotics officer, with his amazing physique and fluidity in action sequences helping him out. He’s one of the very few stars who does not look awkward in whatever unique makeovers he tries out. On the other hand is Prasanna, who is smooth as silk with his mannerisms, attitude and the diction.

Priya Bhavani Shankar and the rest of the cast offer good support, but the film is largely limited to the two stylish men.

Technically, Mafia is one of the best films in the recent past, with stunning sound design and music being huge plus points. Jakes Bejoy deserves a big shout-out for his synth-heavy score that ups the ante superbly and adds so much energy to the narrative. The cinematography is really good at many places, but there were some jarring shots too which looked like they were shot on a handycam.

On the whole, Mafia is a film that stands tall mainly due to its final showdown which is the biggest positive. Karthick Naren could have packed the film with more brain, but he decides to keep it simple and let the characters and their style do the talking. An interesting choice indeed.  Mafia Movie Review by Siddarth Sinivas

Mafia Movie Review Rating: 3.25/5

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