It’s Ajith’s 50th film. And like other heroes, one would have expected him also to go for a ‘superhero’ project and with a director who would showcase his image in a big way. But contrary to it, it’s a total makeover that the actor has gone for. And with a director who is known for his cool irreverent way of story telling. But this has paid rich dividends to Ajith with Mankatha. The actor sizzles on screen like never before. Looking debonair in his salt-and-peppered hairstyle, the actor is totally relaxed, obviously enjoying his role of the ‘bad’ guy.
His Vinayak, a disgraced cop, beds strange women, guzzles like a fish, and is shamelessly avaricious. His solo chess-board scene just before the interval, where he muses on his plan, is a brilliant piece.
The story is set in Mumbai against the backdrop of illegal cricket betting, the cops hot on the trail of the bookies. The ill-gotten money, `500 crores in Dollars, is in the safe keeping of Arumugam (Jaiprakash) who runs an old run-down theatre in Dharavi as a front for his illegal activities. This `500 crores in Dollars is repeated ad nauseam, lest the audience miss out on the seriousness of the heist!
It’s during the transit of the money in a truck, that the group plans to hijack it. The gang includes Arumugam’s own man Sumant (Vaibhav, a regular in the director’s films), Ganesh, a greedy cop (Ashwin), Mahath, who owns a wine shop (Mahath), and his friend Prem (Premji) an expert hacker.
The last entrant is Vinayak. Worming his way in, Vinayak takes charge of the operation. Hot on their heels is Arumugam’s faithful Faizal (good work by Arvind), and Prithvi (Arjun) officer of the special task force. As guns blaze and the chase heats up, it’s the survival of the smartest.
The plot seems inspired by many Hollywood heist films like Ocean’s Eleven and Snatch. But Venkat Prabhu has packaged these ‘inspirations’ in a well planned way, infusing it with his brand of humour and style. There are the speed breakers. A scene just gone by is repeated shortly after, with no new perspective added, when a character narrates it to another. Also, the whole hijack-knot is repeatedly narrated by some character or the other.
The early part is loosely structured and meandering. But towards the latter part, the director ties up most of the loose ends together. It’s in the last 15 minutes or so that the narration picks up momentum. As the end titles roll, don’t miss the ‘behind the scenes’ shots on the side, they are hilarious.
Arjun makes his presence felt with cool dignity. A good scene is where he saves Vaibhav fleeing for his life.
Premji is tiresome at times, getting a lot of footage that neither the actor nor the character warrants. The women are irrelevant in this ‘bad boys’ scenario. So, Trisha is dumped unceremoniously when the story picks momentum, while it’s a blink- and- you-miss for Anjali and Andrea. Lakshmi Rai gets a better deal than the rest.
Mankatha as the tag line says is ‘A Venkat Prabhu game’, and the director has played it fairly cleverly. For Thala fans, it’s a treat not to be missed.
