Mersal Review
Mersal
starring Ilayathalapathy Vijay is the Diwali 2017 release and probably the
biggest Tamil film this year and here is our Mersal movie review.
Like other star vehicles,
Atlee uses the pause-and-play technique for Vijay's introduction. Mersal begins
with the usual fanfare, where the police arrest Maaran (Vijay) for a murder,
which also reminds us of Rajinikanth's Sivaji. With an ode to MGR's
Unnai Arindhaal, Atlee doesn't reveal Vijay's face until the roar inside the
theatre hits the roof.
The common perception is that Vijay is the next
Superstar. But Vijay seems to care less about that because he has positioned
himself as an MGR-an. He doesn't want to be Thalaivar, but Thalapathy (what
people keep calling him throughout the film), as MGR is known by the title
Vaathiyaar. There's literally a scene where the off-screen Vijay in Mersal
impersonates the on-screen MGR. These scenes add to Vijay's persona.
Mersal, that runs close to three hours, takes a long time to
establish its characters and the plot. About a half an hour or so, we learn
that Maaran (Vijay) is not just a doctor, but a five-rupee-fee doctor who wants
to serve the people. We also learn that Maaran is also an illusionist (not a
magician, there's a difference), whose tricks might raise your eyebrows quite
often. At the same time, Maaran butchers a big-shot doctor somewhere in Paris.
Is he a doctor, magician or a criminal? For this, Atlee's
screenplay in the first half is very generic and the narrative falters at some
places. Sometimes, a film might have had a larger impact by not trying too hard
-- Mersal is one such film.
When the reality kicks in, it gets engaging right before the interval, where
Vetri (Vijay) gets a predictable yet grand entry.
Atlee has a reputation of taking cues from earlier films. His
debut had a nod to Mouna Raagam, and Theri followed the Baasha format. It's too
hard not to think about Aboorva Sagotharargal -- one that became the textbook
for masala films -- while watching Mersal. Beneath the surface, the screenplay
is structured on the same premise. But Aboorva Sagotharargal was a fantastic
film mainly because the narration was simple: You killed my father and here's
my revenge.
There is more than one reference in Mersal. When Sathyaraj
laughs at Vetri's flashback and asks about the dual role, it's like Nasser's
dialogue "Sethupathi ku
poranthathu rettai athula onnu kuttai" from Aboorva
Sagotharargal. Interestingly, the older Kamal Haasan played a joker. Totally
out of context, Vetri carries a tiger to perform a trick. Does it ring a bell?
But Vijay is not happy being a superstar. He wants to become a matinee idol.
For instance, a woman talks in Sinhala Tamil requesting Maaran to wear a
western outfit (he wears a veshti) next time. To which Maaran says, "I
won't give up my (Tamil) culture." This is Vijay extending his hands to
his huge fanbase in Sri Lanka.
Coming back to Aboorva Sagothargal, Vijay as the older
Thalapathy is more satisfying than the other two. Strongly rooted in Southern
Tamil Nadu, Thalapathy's accent, however, is shockingly Chennai. That said, in that rural avatar and murukku messai, one can't help but
wonder how good Vijay would have been in a setting like Subramaniyapuram.
Baahubali writer KV Vijayendra Prasad was consulted for additional screenplay,
the one from Baahubali, where a newborn raises his hand.
Much like most of his films,
Vijay plays to the gallery. His performance is very rarely benign. Since it's a
Vijay film, Mersal requires all the must-haves. The individual romantic tracks
between Kajal Aggarwal and Samantha, who seemed to have shot for Mersal while
filming Theri, derail the plot.
On the other hand, Nithya Menen as Srividya (also known for her
ravishing eyes) never gives a disappointing performance. Why do filmmakers use
her merely as a supporting artist? If it's not inappropriate to say, AR
Rahman's score looks completely alien in Mersal, but that is overshadowed by GK
Vishnu's cinematography.
SJ Suryah in the shoes of doctor Daniel Arokiaraj is remarkable.
In Tamil cinema, when it comes to villains; two names crop up immediately.
Raghuvaran and Prakash Raj. Suryah carries this unusual aura within him. He can
be a Raghuvaran or Raj and that's a rarity. Watch out for the scene in the
flashback portion, when he talks about cesarean and normal delivery. The
presence of a terrific villain is what Vijay's films have been missing all
these years, be it Thuppakki, Kaththi or Theri.
In some ways, one could say that Mersal is nothing but the rise
of a matinee idol. Maybe politics is actually on
the cards for Vijay, who knows!
