Mande Suryudu

SYNOPSIS: An undercover cop is involved in an operation to bring a most wanted gangster out of hiding. If the cop can succeed amidst suspicion, betrayal and loss is the crux of the story.


MOVIE REVIEW: Although there is a lot of action in it, Meaghamann, is a battle of wits — a game of chess literally. Magilzh Thirumeni reminds us of this every now and then visually in the movie where a character is shown playing chess on the laptop and another character who is used by the hero is shown wearing a T-shirt that reads 'I'm a pawn star', and the painting in the climax scene is that of the white king you find on the chess board with the words King's Gambit below it.

The film revolves around an undercover cop Shiva would gradually win the confidence of the J Company, a fearful underground world in Goa. His target is the Company's head Jothi, whose face is known only to a few of his trusted men. To force Jothi reveal his identity Shiva hatches plan to steal a huge shipment of coke using Sharma, a gangster who was once a cop.

But Shiva's real identity — as Arul, a police officer — is discovered and now, Shiva must save himself and also bring Jothi to justice.

Meaghamann's pace takes a while to pick up. The director took his time to introduce the prime characters who more than a dozen in number.

Soon after getting introduced to the background of the story and gangs, cops we get hooked to the plot, which is perfectly woven. The pre-interval part is quite interesting and also gripping as Shiva's friend, also an undercover cop working under Sharma spill the beans about Shiva to Jothi due to torture by the latter.

Unaware of this development Shiva enters the gang's den thinking that he has been made out. His escape from a point of no escape is not convincing but thrills.

In fact, the climax will have an echo of this interval scene as Shiva manages to escape from inevitable death at the hands of Jothi and his henchmen. There is no much room for comedy in this serious plot but the director manages to gives us one humorous moment when a gangster whose China-made gun accidentally fires in his crotch and blames it on the dosham caused by his father who had shot Chinese soldiers in a war.

What the film suffers from is the tendency to spoon-feed the audience.

A few scenes are just elucidation, and the sole purpose of one character (Benjamin Vas played by OAK Sundar) is only to keep us informed of the developments of the plot.

The casting of well known villain actors helps in quick establishment of their motives, but Anupama Kumar, who is always seen flustered and worried as senior cop running Shiva's operation is miscast. Also, being an intrepid cop Arya looks too casual in life-threatening situations.

One would also wonder why had the director chose a romantic song that would only puncture the narrative tense.

It only helps Hansika play an immature character once again. She is seen reading Cosmopolitan and 50 Shades of Grey while offering Arya to get intimate with her. The song that shows the heroine consumed by lust and struggling to deal with is it saves the grace. But, Maghilzh Thirumeni has a knack for staging gripping sequences (his previous film too had some nail-biting moments) and that helps us look over the shortcomings.