.jpg "Citizen") |
| Citizen |
Synopsis: Gunasekaran, a socially responsible youth, kidnaps Easwaran, the brother of Sadasivam, the law minister, after the latter orchestrates violence among students. Sadasivam loses his post and Guna releases his captive but Easwaran wants revenge...
Movie Review: You have kidnapped the brother of a minister. He is also a ruthless gangster but you have managed to keep your identity (read face) a mystery from him. You have reached the place where you are hiding him, and right at that moment, you get a call from your girlfriend. You attend the call rather than ignoring it (or even texting a 'will call bk ltr') and go on to discuss banking details, saying out loud her account number, despite the chance that your quarry could hear it and use it to discover who you are. If such a circumstance feels logical and plausible enough for you, then, Ivan Vera Maathiri is right up your street. Else, steer clear!
The film opens with visuals of violence unleashed on some students in a law college (with policemen remaining mute spectators), a not-so-subtle reference to the incidents that occurred in a Chennai law college in 2008. Gunasekaran (Vikram Prabhu), a 26-year-old advertising professional, is affected by the news, and decides to take on Sadasivam, the law minister, who orchestrated the assault. To do that, he kidnaps his brother and hit man Easwaran ( Vamsi Krishna), whom the minister has unlawfully b
rought out of jail in parole.
Guna's idea is to hold the man hostage until his parole lapses, humiliate the minister in public and make him resign his post, and take away the power that made him a fearsome individual. Guna also meets Malini ( Surabhi), an airy-fairy college student, who falls in love with him.
Meanwhile, Sadasivam resigns and becomes the target of a police investigation, and a contented Guna releases Easwaran. Now, the prey becomes the hunter, searching for his captor, despite being pursued by the hard-nosed cop Aravindan ( Ganesh Venkatraman).
If the screenplay was the strength of Saravanan's debut Enageyum Eppothum, here, it becomes a weakness as the director's attempts to make a "different" vigilante film get lost in implausibility, patronizing (a line about girls who do not receive calls or SMSes being "good girls" is downright condescending) and sub-par acting. He has the outline of a terrific action movie plot; generally, it is the hero who is at the receiving end in the first half and goes after his tormentor in the latter portions after piecing together his identity but here, it is the opposite. However, the scenes aren't particularly interesting beyond a strictly functional level. Guna isn't directly affected by the violence in the college and so, his decision to turn a vigilante should have been compelling. But what we get are a couple of scenes where he is aroused by stray remarks. And, while his plan to hide Easwaran seems well thought out, the manner in which he goes about smacks of carelessness. He reveals his real intention to his captive, gives him a blatant clue to his identity, and worse, when the minister is arrested, lets Easwaran loose on the streets rather than ensuring that he gets into police custody. And, in the end, Aravindan is conveniently shown as someone who believes vigilantism to be good.
But the weakest section is the romantic track — Malini is certainly the latest in the ignominious list of daft heroines in Tamil cinema. She allows Guna, a stranger to her at this point, to use her house loo, and later carries a fish all over the city after he leaves it with her. Saravanan wants these scenes to be funny but they only trivialize Malini's character. And to add to her insult, we are repeatedly told, she has 18 arrears! Even after Malini and Guna fall in love, we never sense their chemistry. That Vikram Prabhu is far more convincing as an action hero than in the romantic scenes also doesn't help.