Let's review Mersal!
Knowing that this is a "commercial movie", I knew beforehand, that I can't be expecting things such as character development, or exploration of different character arcs, and that I had to expect 5-6 songs, hero-heroine romance, unrealistic fight sequences etc., being simply an entertainment overall. Despite getting tired of these movies for a while, I decided to check out Mersal, mainly due to the huge hype and humongous box office collections it has made.
Well.... was it worth the hype?
The movie started off pretty decently, giving us a decent intro of our hero(es), played by Vijay. We get to know straight away what this movie is going to deal with, which is the various crimes, murders and other malpractices taking place in the healthcare industry. Which is a pretty good topic to speak about, in my opinion. Scenes which really focused on the major issues with regards to the provision and accessibility of medicinal facilities, requirement of more hospitals, malpractices in clinics and hospitals, and how some are so evil and ruthless to the point where people's lives are like business to them, were some of the best parts of this movie. I was really engaged and involved in these scenes, which were elevated with great acting by both Vijay and SJ Suriya.
Coming to acting, it is very evident that Vijay puts in his best effort, despite how the movie turns out to be. Here, his role as the village leader in the flashbacks, was the one I liked the best. He is the core person of focus in this movie, and manages to carry it on his shoulders. SJ Suriya as a villain was surprisingly good, albeit the effect of his villainy wearing off immediately, due to flashback occupying major part of the 2nd half, and the movie ending immediately after it. I did notice that greater effort was taken in showing the environment, locations and characters in the flashback scenes, adding some richness to them.
Songs were decent. Too many songs were included in the 1st half, which made it draggy. However, the "Aalaporan Thamizhan" song was a delight to listen to, apart from also being visually captivating! Do watch the video while listening to the song. It'll make it much more better.
Although the movie did a fairly decent job with the Dr. Maaran character, the village leader in flashback, and that of Nitya Menon, it did absolutely no justice to characters of Kajal Agarwal, Samantha, Sathyaraj and Vadivelu. Yes, the once great comedian did make me chuckle in a few scenes, but the others I mentioned above were completely wasted. Atlee gave them nothing much to do with.
Also, the magic scenes could have been explored more. Instead of blindly copying from Hollywood movies like "Now You See Me", something extra could have been done, which would mesh in better with the main plot.
What I was really hoping for, was for the movie to not fall into the usual commercial movie elements: some romance - some fight scenes - some comedy - then flashbacks - a song in that - then movie ending on a big fight..it's all there. Apart from small tweaks here and there in the way in which these were presented, and scenes that seem to validate the rumours about Vijay entering into politics, there is nothing much new, except for the way in which the issue of large-scale corruption in the Indian medical industry was handled.
But hey, you wouldn't decide to watch this movie, expecting anything else right? Despite the story not being much different, some of the usual elements still being there, Mersal is a solid entertainer, a one-time watch. Do not expect anything different or unique here. Compared to Theri, that was better.
Overall, you will be thoroughly entertained by this movie, and that is more than sufficient to give this movie a 6/10.
EXTRA STUFF:
(Although I realise this is just a movie, there are some statements made in the movie which should not be blindly believed by people. Hence, I just added the below links for some reading on them:
Balaji Vishwanathan's answer to "How is Singapore able to provide free medical care to its citizens with 7% GST whereas India is unable to provide it with 28% GST?"
Tushant Baranwal's answer to "What is something that needs to be said"?
Subba Iyer's answer to "How is Singapore able to provide free medical care to its citizens with 7% GST whereas India is unable to provide it with 28% GST")
Knowing that this is a "commercial movie", I knew beforehand, that I can't be expecting things such as character development, or exploration of different character arcs, and that I had to expect 5-6 songs, hero-heroine romance, unrealistic fight sequences etc., being simply an entertainment overall. Despite getting tired of these movies for a while, I decided to check out Mersal, mainly due to the huge hype and humongous box office collections it has made.
Well.... was it worth the hype?
The movie started off pretty decently, giving us a decent intro of our hero(es), played by Vijay. We get to know straight away what this movie is going to deal with, which is the various crimes, murders and other malpractices taking place in the healthcare industry. Which is a pretty good topic to speak about, in my opinion. Scenes which really focused on the major issues with regards to the provision and accessibility of medicinal facilities, requirement of more hospitals, malpractices in clinics and hospitals, and how some are so evil and ruthless to the point where people's lives are like business to them, were some of the best parts of this movie. I was really engaged and involved in these scenes, which were elevated with great acting by both Vijay and SJ Suriya.
Coming to acting, it is very evident that Vijay puts in his best effort, despite how the movie turns out to be. Here, his role as the village leader in the flashbacks, was the one I liked the best. He is the core person of focus in this movie, and manages to carry it on his shoulders. SJ Suriya as a villain was surprisingly good, albeit the effect of his villainy wearing off immediately, due to flashback occupying major part of the 2nd half, and the movie ending immediately after it. I did notice that greater effort was taken in showing the environment, locations and characters in the flashback scenes, adding some richness to them.
Songs were decent. Too many songs were included in the 1st half, which made it draggy. However, the "Aalaporan Thamizhan" song was a delight to listen to, apart from also being visually captivating! Do watch the video while listening to the song. It'll make it much more better.
Although the movie did a fairly decent job with the Dr. Maaran character, the village leader in flashback, and that of Nitya Menon, it did absolutely no justice to characters of Kajal Agarwal, Samantha, Sathyaraj and Vadivelu. Yes, the once great comedian did make me chuckle in a few scenes, but the others I mentioned above were completely wasted. Atlee gave them nothing much to do with.
Also, the magic scenes could have been explored more. Instead of blindly copying from Hollywood movies like "Now You See Me", something extra could have been done, which would mesh in better with the main plot.
What I was really hoping for, was for the movie to not fall into the usual commercial movie elements: some romance - some fight scenes - some comedy - then flashbacks - a song in that - then movie ending on a big fight..it's all there. Apart from small tweaks here and there in the way in which these were presented, and scenes that seem to validate the rumours about Vijay entering into politics, there is nothing much new, except for the way in which the issue of large-scale corruption in the Indian medical industry was handled.
But hey, you wouldn't decide to watch this movie, expecting anything else right? Despite the story not being much different, some of the usual elements still being there, Mersal is a solid entertainer, a one-time watch. Do not expect anything different or unique here. Compared to Theri, that was better.
Overall, you will be thoroughly entertained by this movie, and that is more than sufficient to give this movie a 6/10.
EXTRA STUFF:
(Although I realise this is just a movie, there are some statements made in the movie which should not be blindly believed by people. Hence, I just added the below links for some reading on them:
Balaji Vishwanathan's answer to "How is Singapore able to provide free medical care to its citizens with 7% GST whereas India is unable to provide it with 28% GST?"
Tushant Baranwal's answer to "What is something that needs to be said"?
Subba Iyer's answer to "How is Singapore able to provide free medical care to its citizens with 7% GST whereas India is unable to provide it with 28% GST")
Good write
ReplyDeleteI also made a blog page and you can check it out!
ReplyDeletehttp://sanjeevreviewgames.blogspot.in/
Hey sure. Will do. how was my review?
DeleteGood review and do reviews for recently released movies
Deletenice movie& best songs is still hit now.thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteதமிழ் சினிமா ரெவியூஸ்