Following his brief stint up north, director AR Murugadoss returns to Kollywood with his boldly titled new film ‘Madharaasi’ starring Sivakarthikeyan and Rukmini Vasanth. Murugadoss - a director who had been delivering back to back hits for the first half of his career - has been struggling both at the box office and critically over the last ten years. Sivakarthikeyan has recently established himself as a highly bankable star, especially due to the success of his last film, 2024’s ‘Amaran.’ Their collaboration seems to have allowed Murugadoss to somewhat once again find his footing.
The film follows Raghuram (Sivakarthikeyan) a commoner who finds himself embroiled in a battle between police officer Premnath (Biju Menon) and gun smuggler Virat (Vidyut Jammwal). Although the film is peppered with novelty - there is an interesting and often funny subversion of the ‘reluctant hero’ trope here - the overall plot and structure of the film is extremely old-fashioned. There are many moments which work very well throughout, but these are often undermined by less impressive moments and sequences. There are scenes and presentational choices that affirm Murugadoss’s position as a tried and tested professional, and others which feel out-of-place in quality. One example which comes to mind is a scene right after an earthquake occurs while Raghuram is at his office, which felt laughably amateurish.
The cast perform their roles adequately. Sivakarthikeyan’s Raghuram borrows shades from his excellent work in 2023’s ‘Maaveeran,’ once again playing a character who is not completely tethered to reality. Vidyut Jammwal astonishes with his incredibly physically demanding turn as Virat, performing stunts and acrobatics with ease. Rukmini Vasanth is also impressive in the first half of the film until her role is reduced to the hackneyed ‘damsel in distress.’
Some of the film’s strongest aspects are in its craft. Ignoring the odd silly shot or manoeuvre, the action in ‘Madharaasi’ is some of the best seen in Tamil cinema in recent memory. The camera movement and shot compositions are inspired and dynamic. Although the lighting and visual tone of the film feels reminiscent of a Lokesh Kanagaraj picture, Murugadoss manages to capture a more tangible texture in his frames. A brief, wonderful shot during Raghuram’s frenetic episode in the hospital brilliantly captures the protagonist’s mental state, alluding to the works of MC Escher.
Unfortunately once again, Anirudh Ravichander’s score and soundtrack are a major let-down for the film. Ravichander once again recycles his template of romance song, breakup song etc. for the soundtrack. The score is often overplayed and unnecessarily loud. The worst offender by far is the astoundingly lazy main theme of the film, which clumsily incorporates the title of the film as its refrain.
Overall, ‘Madharaasi’ has many aspects working in its favour. However, the mishandling of certain scenes and a predictable plot let the film down. The positives do outweigh the negatives for the most part. Interesting concepts are brought up, however the quality of their integration and execution are questionable. Although Murugadoss has not fully reclaimed his position as one of our finest commercial filmmakers, ‘Madharaasi’ proves the director still has something to offer the industry.
Krishna's rating: 2.5 stars
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Official trailer for film below.
