Maayavan Review -  Knockout conceit!

Bharath Vijayakumar

Much like C.V. Kumar's production ventures, his directorial debut too is a far cry from the crowded Kollywood market. A thriller that moves into a less explored space, Maayavan gets half the job done with an extremely interesting premise.

The film is off to a rousing start as bodies start piling up right away. We are into the story already and we anticipate an airtight narration. But the following scenes are the weakest portions of the film and involve a pshycatrist (Lavanya Tripathi) who helps the hero. It is appreciable that what we have here is not the regular heroine character but one that has a part to play in the scheme of things. But it is unfortunate that it has become a given that we need to adjust to the attrocious lip sync even for such crucial characters in Tamil cinema. It hurts all the more here as Maayavan is not run of the mill stuff. But somehow the makers do not even eschew from having an item number. What keeps Maayavan going even in these low phases is that there is this confusion (in a good way) about what is really happening and we want to connect the dots.

The film does get progressively better once Daniel Balaji comes into the picture. There is not much flab from hereon and soon we seem to get a hold of what is happening. It is good to see Sundeep Kishan's character devoid of any heroism. The movie does not have any major loopholes with respect to logic. But there are convenient decisions in sketching the antagonist and making him look evil when his backstory does not actually give such a picture. Also a police officer not able to recollect someone just because he had coloured his hair. Seriously?

The film moves at a rapid pace throughout. Technically it is good and this is a crucial aspect given the kind of film Maayavan is and helps us in buying into what is being narrated on screen. The casting and the performance of the actors are a mixed bag. All the tension is in the writing but the actors themselves never reflect the enormity of the situation at hand. And was that a fake moustache on Sundeep Kishan?

Bottomline:

A knockout conceit and an interesting screenplay ensure that Maayavan rises above instances of middling execution and rather ordinary performances.

Rating: 2.75/5