'Mounaguru' (Tamil)
Director: Santha Kumar
Cast: Arulnithi, Iniya, Uma Riyazkhan, John Vijay, Anand Varma, Murugadas
A car accident on the Bangalore highway triggers a chain of events that cause havoc in the life of a youngster. How he copes with it and comes out of the rut he was pushed into, forms the crux of the story.
An intriguing plot, intelligently scripted, ‘Mounaguru’ belies the fact that it is the work of a debutante maker. Writer-director Santha Kumar moves his narration with the precision and logic of a master chess player, giving the viewer an edge-of-the-seat experience throughout. For the two-film old Arulnithi (his home production), Karuna is a role more complex and layered than his earlier ones — 'Vamsam', 'Udayan'.
And it’s to the actor’s credit, that he has handled it with maturity and control, bringing out the various moods and nuances of Karuna as he goes through the ups and downs of his life. Karuna is depicted as a reticent, brooding loner whose forthright attitude is misunderstood many a time. One such moment gets him thrown out of college. He comes to Chennai with mother and stays with his elder brother and family, after receiving admission in a city college. The relationship between him and the members of his brother’s the family, and the growing fondness between Karuna and Arthi (the graceful Iniya), his brother’s sister-in-law, all have been portrayed naturally.
Karuna moves to the college hostel, and it is from then that his life takes a drastic turn. Negative elements in his college work against him, showing him in an unfavourable light. And when an avaricious, ruthless cop, along with a team of three, targets him following a misunderstanding, Karuna decides to fight back. The performances of the three other cops are commendable.
The college principal, while being supportive, had his own personal demons to battle with. The suspense element is incorporated well into the screenplay. The characters are finely tuned, and performances are impressive. The roles are so well fleshed out, that even the actors on the fringe manage to leave a mark.
Marimuthu, the dirty cop, is played with panache by John Vijay. The actor gets a substantial role and makes the most of it. Uma Riyas Khan’s performance is also outstanding. As the investigating cop who follows clues meticulously to the logical ending, Uma plays her role with quiet efficiency.
There is a lot of inherent humour in the scene where Babu, a mental patient, frees Karuna who had been forcibly admitted to the hospital by the cops. The system protecting its own wayward officers, fearing backlash from the public and media, is conveyed well. The director has received the strong backing of his technical crew.
Mahesh Muthusamy’s camera captures the gritty action effectively. With the background music scored by Thaman, and some smart cutting by Raja Mohammad, the tempo of the film has been enhanced.
Slick and stylised, ‘Mounaguru’ is a gripping crime-thriller that definitely warrants a watch.