There are various type of film goers in Tamil. Few for the hype, few for the music, few for the director, few for the genre but mostly for the star cast. And we all know where Mankatha fits in. Being myself a film goer of all the type, I went Mankatha especially for none other than Ajith. So whatever I write here might be biased. Beware! :)
Is it a new trend in Tamil cinema ? First there were heroes, then they did good for the people, then they fought for the good. Next there were anti-heroes. They had a flash back to prove their bad worth and then they turn good. Now is the era, all are bad, they talk bad, they live bad, they end bad. Here comes Aaranya Kaandam and now Mankatha! If there is anything common in both, its all about bad people and if there is anything that makes a difference and that is none other than Ajith!
I may not talk about the plot of the movie or its positives-negatives or its music or its cinematography but I may talk about the guy who made a difference. If you had asked me, if I had liked Mankatha without Ajith...well I have to think! I think acting bad is easier than acting good! People have always excelled. We all knew Sigappu Rojakkal and Endhiran! Ajith holds the film like John Travolta did it in Broken Arrow! Following all his movies including his flops, I cannot resist talking about Ajith here. His screen presence, his costumes, his looks are the USP and that is what that keeps the crowd cheering inside the theatre. He is damn smart in his natural grey hair and rayban coolers. He is open, natural and accepts he is aged forty. I might want to see this film once more for his daring villainous act. One of my favorite scene in the movie would be the chess sequence in the movie.
Well his characterization is of a greedy, selfish guy which is not a sort of a lead role the usual tamil hero plays in. Even if its a thief role, it ought to be a Robin Hood kind of role! But this one had broken all the conventions which is pretty new and welcoming here! It may sound awkward when the lead protagonist talks filthy language in Tamil cinema. Few of his dialogues are muted. Ofcourse we all knew those words and people in the theatre dubbed instead! So is it a question if all the female followers of him would not love this movie because he cheated his girl friend for money? Should an actor of star dom status not talk or act like this? Again all the barriers broken here!
Well if these kind of films have been tested and received in Hollywood, be it a gangster flick like The Departed or a heist movie like SwordFish, then why not Mankatha in Kollywood? You may want to complain about logic loop holes, lengthy first half, bad content and so on.. but who cares when Venkat Prabhu had used Ajith as the trump card for his game? Mankatha da!
