Take any random scene from Mazhai Pidikatha Manithan (MPM) and you will either be intrigued, confused, annoyed, or all of them at the same time, but never bored. The best example of this is the one particular scene towards the end of the film. Hours before a mall is set to open, two different groups of people are fighting over who gets to do what to an unconscious Vijay Antony. Just two feet above the clamouring gangs, a puppy is seen dangling by a rope. In another scene, Vijay Antony’s character pauses a fight with the antagonist, offers him coffee (believed to be poisoned) and talks to him about how he could change lives for the better instead. The villain chooses to drink the coffee. When shown these scenes out of context, anyone would be ablaze with curiosity, dying to know the context, and to the film’s credit, it does offer the necessary narrative justification for these scenes. However, the bizarreness of each scene does have a cumulative effect that renders the film a confusing watch.
MPM begins with a backstory told through a slideshow presentation made of badly photoshopped images. And from the very beginning, we are told that this film is a continuation of Vijay Antony’s earlier films, Naan and Salim. However, there is no thematic or spiritual connection. In a matter of seconds, the PowerPoint presentation balloons the bridging flashback so much that the previously unassuming Salim suddenly becomes a Jason Bourne-esque special agent in the Indian Army. And of course, the wife has died and now he has to fake his death, forge his identity, and hide in the Andaman Islands. The serene beachside setting, a man with a mysterious past, and a terrifying loan mafia; the engaging, albeit predictable setting keeps us fairly invested. As the plot progresses, the effort to connect the multiple plot threads is apparent, as every scene blends into another.
Whatever goodwill the film earns through its writing, is almost adamantly destroyed at every turn through several issues, chief of which is the film’s frenetic editing. Whether it is an action scene or just two people exchanging lines in a restaurant, no single shot exceeds four seconds. The neurotic editing style is one of the biggest drawbacks of the film. It makes sure that we develop no emotional connection with any of the characters, nor do we get any thrill from the fights, as we barely get to see any punches, or stabs land.
While Tamil cinema is no stranger to ‘fixing’ dialogues in post-production, ad-libbing in MPM seems to be purposefully ubiquitous. Even actors known for competent dialogue delivery suffer from this. As a result, the entirety of MPM sounds like a dubbed film. Certain meta lines manage to get a smirk out of us.
Like when Vijay Antony says, “Neenga enna Salim nu koopdunga, Vijay nu koopdunga, Antony nu koopdunga, I don’t mind.” or when he nonchalantly throws, “Yaaruku thaan flashback illa” in the middle of recounting his past to Megha Akash. However, by the time Sathyaraj looks at the camera and delivers a “yes, we might come back for another film.” I’ve had enough. The several poetic Tamil lines that crop up on the screen at irregular intervals, seldom make sense nor do they add any aesthetic embellishment. Almost none of the attempts at levity, fed through Pruthvi Ambaar’s Burma, works. Unfortunately, the actor seems to have gotten the lion’s share of the film’s bad dialogue. Moreover, we do not get a satisfying end to his character’s arc but sadly, we are thankful for it all the same. All of Pruthvi’s shortcomings can be applied to Megha Akash as well but unfortunately, her character barely makes enough dent in our minds to even elicit disappointment.
Mazhai Pidikatha Manithan diligently follows every beat of the retired-soldier-comes-back-to-hunt-bad-guys trope. And beneath layers of bad execution, you can see that it could have almost succeeded. However, the issues with MPM are varied and they overlap in such a way that it becomes difficult to look past them and enjoy the story alone. Several films squander the potential of their premise but MPM seems to have gone above and beyond, with its multiple bizarre directorial choices, to make sure that almost no single aspect of the film works in its favour.
Director: Vijay Milton
Cast: Vijay Antony, Megha Akash, Sarathkumar, Sathyaraj, Saranya Ponvannan