Premise: The same modus operandi of a murder which took place a decade ago repeats now, that too in a different state. Which pulls in Vijay Antony as he handled the murder case of the similar pattern 10 years ago.

Writing/ Direction: The story begins in a brisk manner, though it follows the template thriller structure, the opening 20 minutes or so is interesting. The film gets stuck at one place when the focus starts to shift on Ajay Dhishan’s character. Not that his role is bad, his character does have many unexplored layers and curious moments, but over dependency spoils the show. Rather than keeping his mystic and visionary powers just as a tool to crack one part of the investigation, the director has used his abilities as the driving force for the entire film. It’s like the step by step interrogation part has gone haywire and feels missing in total. It eventually questions the existence of Vijay Antony’s cop character, he did not really contribute much in solving the case. Barring the convenient writing, the proceedings are not that boring, something or the other keeps on happening that manage to hold the flow to an extent. Also, the reasoning behind the crimes are worthy, racism gets an all new angle here. However, the way things unfold could have been more creative for the valuable social message at the end to blend with the narrative.

Performances: Measured acting from Vijay Antony, he played it subtly without unnecessarily complicating things. Full-fledged screen space for debutant Ajay Dhishan, he gets more importance in the flow than the hero, barring some cinematic appeal in a few talkie portions, superb performance from him understanding his character abilities. Mature display of expressions from the artist who played the villain, leaving the rest with due respect for the suspense factor. Many other supporting characters exist in the atmosphere just as passing clouds without making much impact.

Technicalities: A couple of philosophical emotional tracks that resonate along with the situations. Efficient background score from the hero himself, making sure the intensity does not fade away whenever the screenplay dips. The detailing with respect to the shot compositions are fascinating, full marks to the cameraman for filming the intention of every scene so clearly. However the low grade VFX toned down the visual output. Editing is a mixed bag, too many lags, especially in the first half and the runtime could have easily been shortened for better engagement.

Verdict:

    Has an interesting start and a subject that deserves to be told. Despite carrying the potential, it lands well short of a solid thriller as the screenplay gets stuck at one particular point and around one specific character for the majority of its time.

MAARGAN - Got some Unique Traces, but Holds only in Parts!