Maaveeran: An almost perfect superhero flick that largely entertains

Cast: Sivakarthikeyan, Aditi Shankar, Mysskin, Sarita

Director: Madonne Ashwin

Music director: Bharath Sankar

Synopsis: Due to unexpected turn of events, a comic strip character starts determining the life and purpose of its creator

Rating - 3/5

CHENNAI: One can't resist the aura of watching a DC film right from the beginning, when Madonne Ashwin unfolds Maaveeran's milieu that rots in corruption, and the hero-to-be is gets pushed to brink.

Actor Sivakarthikeyan's guts in picking a superhero film once again meticulously, after the misfire of Hero (2019), is commendable. Whether Sivakarthikeyan’s trust in Ashwin pays off or not is what we look forward to from the first frame of Maaveeran.

Sathya (Sivakarthikeyan), a comic strip artist, tends to stay away from trouble in a rather trepid fashion as his father was killed for antagonising people with vested interests. Characterisation of Sarita, playing Sathya's mother, is fresh as her role departs from the stereotypical mother in Indian movies, keeping an angry son at bay from troubles-- she in fact, chides Sathya for his meek demeanour. When she resists to leave behind her home in a shanty during eviction, Sathya convinces her to move to a government tenement. Sathya learns about corruption involved in the tenement's construction and feels discomfited by his decision to move into the place. He vents his anger through comic strips in vain. While fighting back is the only option, Sathya refrains. What happens after his dilemma forms the rest of Maaveeran’s runtime of 166 minutes.

SK is an absolute on screen delight and it's doubly so when he pairs up with Yogi Babu, whose jokes land every single time. Aditi Shankar, who plays Nila, lies at the periphery for most of the runtime other than her pep talk to Sathya. Mysskin's Jeyakodi needed a smarter writing. While his comedy and villainy works in the first half, when things get serious in the second half he isn't intimidating enough. He is relegated to a regular veshti-tugging Tamil cinema villain. Sarita, Sunil Varma manage to make remarkable appearances among the supporting roles.

The plot’s strength is that the protagonist stays relatable with "powers". Ashwin stays grounded in designing a superhero out of a timid person and the choice of the source of his power makes the action sequences believable with few cinematic liberties.

Notwithstanding, narration hits a roadblock in the second half partly due to lack of character arcs. The obstacles that he faces are a result of an already fully-developed crisis in the first half, leaving no room for innovation. To add to it, the climax is as predictable as it could get. However, Sivakarthikeyan's energetic presence makes up for all these flaws.

Bharath Sankar is remarkable with songs and the background score. Certain scenes were interesting for its score, with Siva taking a calculated risk of new composer, shying away from his friend and frequent collaborator, Anirudh. Vidhu Ayyana's visuals were neat, in a few scenes it evoked empathy. A much more liberal editing could have helped the second half.

Overall, Maaveeran had the potential to be another widely-appreciated Madonne Ashwin film after Mandela. But the gaping holes in the writing didn't overweigh the positives to not call this film a decent watch.