Rekka Review – Vijay Sethupathi’s Mass Masala  

Vijay Sethupathi is in tremendous form of late. This is Vijay Sethupathi’s seventh release in the last 12 months. Interestingly, 5 out of his 6 movies have been successful in the box office. Vijay Sethupathi's disciplined approach in selecting script-backed roles rather than hero-centric scripts has paid off well. Rekka is probably the first movie in his career which is unapologetically catering to the mass masala fans.

Vijay Sethupathi and Lakshmi Menon

Rekka has a few scenes inspired from Run and Ghilli. Director Rathina Siva indirectly acknowledges it by showing Ghilli scenes played on TV. Some fight sequences go overboard with Vijay Sethupathi single- handedly thrashing a hundred side-kicks. There are lots of gravity defying stunts such as the hero punches, throws, and bounces the bad guys around. Vijay Sethupathi had earlier tested this water in his earlier movie, Sethupathy. However with Rekka, Vijay Sethupathi goes all out with mass masala elements with scant regard for logic and laws of physics. Apart from physical punches, Vijay Sethupathi also sprinkles in a number of verbal punches to villains. The fight sequences are ramped in ultra-high-speed scenes. Vijay Sethupathi takes home audience whistles as he strikes the Maan Karate pose and super imposing himself on Siva Karthikeyan.

Lakshmi Menon is back after a short-break shedding some of that school-girl innocence in her looks. Lakshmi Menon’s key strength is her ability to bring out the on-screen chemistry with any hero she shares the screen. Lakshmi Menon does it once again in bringing out sparkling on-screen chemistry with Vijay Sethupathi. Lakshmi Menon expressions, make-up and dialogues may seem to be a bit too predictably cinematic at times. But, it is sufficiently entertaining. Apart from Vijay Sethupathi and Lakshmi Menon, other characters including KS Ravikumar, Kishore, Sathish, boy who acted as Vijay Sethupathi, actress who acted as Mala, have all done their parts noticeably well.

Story, Screenplay and Direction

The story is straight-forward and not complex. The protagonist caught in-between the crossfire of two villains; the story threads forcibly connect the key characters and villains to make it too convenient to unfold the plots and move the story forward. Some extra attention could have been taken with managing the screenplay as flash-backs, songs and fights follow in quick successions. 

Technicals

Musician Imman has taken this opportunity to elevate Vijay Sethupathi’s heroism with his excellent range of background scores. Many scenes actually work due to Imman’s background score despite the BGM getting a bit too loud at times. All songs are well-sung and picturized well; the song placements could have been better. Camera work is always in motion. There are a few continuity lapses in terms of lightings and in between cuts. Editor KL Praveen plays an important part along with camera department to accelerate the pace. Vijay Sethupathi’s costume look outdated and needs to have a refresh as he looks often uncomfortable in layered denims.

Final Word

Rekka is clearly a detour from Vijay Sethupathi's usual style of movies. Hopefully, this doesn’t become his mainstay in future. The movie has its undeniable appeal to a group of mass masala loving fan-base. Despite the negatives, Rekka has all the ingredients necessary for making it Vijay Sethupathi’s 5th commercial hit of the year. 

Ratings: 2.75 / 5