CHENNAI: How an act of kindness extended towards a stranger backfires on the protagonist and creates havoc in his life forms the crux of the plot of this movie. At the helm is debutant director Nandu, who has a decade’s experience under various directors. The film has newcomer Vidhaarth (a theatre actor) essaying the role of Maharaja aka Maha.
Maha is an orphan mentored by a sympathetic cop (Hanifa). He teams up with Hanifa and indulges in petty trickery to earn quick bucks. He learns an important lesson, when using his clout with the cops, he bails out an accused (Lamba) who had played on his sympathy.
When the accused jumps bail and kills a minister, Maha finds the cops hot on his heels. Forced to flee, he reaches the city and finds a job in a bar. The film then tracks his experiences, his love life, his interlude with a married couple in distress (Anu Haasan-Perumal), and his encounter with the dreaded kingpin of the underworld (Raman). For a debutant, Vidhaarth essays Maha with confidence and fair competence.
The song-dance sequences follow in quick succession disturbing the flow and pace. The whole Haasan- Perumal episode lacks conviction.
It is understandable that Haasan, the sole witness in a case against the gangster, backtracks when her child’s life is threatened. But her testimony where she provides the alibi to the thug, putting both her reputation and her marital relationship at stake, is lacking in sense and sensibility. Ramana appears as a transgender and infuses a lot of style and attitude in his performance.
But as his character gets its space only towards the fag end of the film, not much of an impact is made. The film has a catchy title.
The director has tried to infuse an element of realism in the earlier part. The script could have been etched in a more coherent and a convincing way when the scene shifts to the city.