Movie Review  - Maatraan is on Target!

Bharath Vijayakumar

With Maatraan, K.V.Anand has explored a vast canvas encompassing international issues. Touted and marketed as a film about conjoined twins, Maatraan is actually much more. In fact the concept of conjoined twins is actually used as a novelty factor and to make the proceedings interesting in the first half.

Plot

Maatraan is basically about how science can be a bane in the hands of the wrong people. The playful Akilan and upright Vimalan (Surya and Surya) are the sons of a genetic scientist Ramachandran (Sachin Khadekar) who owns a company which is the market leader in producing energy drinks. A series of murders of the people trying to get to know his success formula creates doubts about his father in Vimalan's mind. From here on the movie moves in top gear for the most part as it traverses international territories. Despite letting out in the open as to who the antagonist is in the first half, K.V.Anand has maintained considerable interest as Surya tracks down his father’s modus operandi and uncovers incidents from history that are long forgotten.

Cast

Surya deserves praise for taking up a movie that must have been physically draining. The actor seems to relish these challenges. There is not much scope for Surya the performer though. His agility in the stunt and dance sequences seems to be improving with each film. Maatran is a worthy addition to Surya's repertoire of ‘action films with purpose’ .Kajal is drop dead gorgeous and has an important part to play in the film. Sachin Khadekar in an important role is convincing. Most of the second half takes place in a foreign land with actors from other countries.

Crew

Harris Jayaraj's combo with both Surya and K.V. Anand has always been successful and Maatraan should be no different. Surprisingly none of the songs were actually chartbusters before the release of the movie. On screen however they gel well. The placement of the songs is also quite even and we do not have two songs back to back at any time. The conceptualization of the 'Naani Koni' number is creative and novel. The technical team must have worked overtime in a movie like this which involves a lot of visual effects. The stunt sequence in the theme park involving the twins stands out for its execution. However in the ‘Theeye Theeye’ song some shots give away the CG work involved. But these are minor glitches.

Obviously we do not want a lot of emotional scenes in a fast paced action entertainer. But it is surprising how the director did not even feel the need to focus on the heroine's emotions in an important scene. Revealing it though would be a spoiler. Some of the intended jokes like the one involving the union strike in the initial half hour fall flat. The movie tends to drag for about ten minutes towards the end and the climax seems a bit contrived.

Bottomline

Maatraan is another attempt by K.V.Anand to make a commercially viable entertainer on the backdrop of a socially relevant issue. The movie is on target and should do well at the box office. But we will have to wait and watch whether it will be a blockbuster on the lines of ‘Ko’.

Reviewer Rating -