Maargan

"Maargan" (2025) presents an intriguing concept with potential for a gripping narrative, yet it ultimately struggles to fully coalesce into a consistently engaging cinematic experience. While the film offers some compelling elements, there's an underlying disconnect that prevents it from truly resonating.

The film introduces a premise that feels fresh and potentially thought-provoking, hinting at deeper themes or an unconventional plot. It draws the viewer in with its initial setup, suggesting a story that could challenge expectations or offer a unique perspective.

However, as the narrative unfolds, something doesn't quite feel right. The execution seems to miss a beat, leading to moments where the story doesn't fully land its intended impact. This could be due to uneven pacing, character motivations that aren't fully clear, or a screenplay that loses its grip on its promising core idea. The lack of a cohesive flow or consistent tension can make it difficult for the audience to stay fully immersed.

While "Maargan" might feature strong performances or commendable technical aspects in certain areas, these strengths are not consistently leveraged to overcome the narrative's shortcomings. It's a film that leaves the viewer with a sense of unfulfilled potential, hinting at a better movie that might have been.

Overall, "Maargan" (2025) is a watchable film that introduces an interesting idea. However, its inability to fully capitalize on its premise and maintain consistent engagement prevents it from being a truly memorable or impactful cinematic endeavor.

A whodunnit crime thriller, Maargan engages you with its unique storyline and strong performances despite having some loopholes/flaws.

As expected Vijay Antony is good. But it is the debutant Ajay Dhishan, who steals the show.

Arvind (Ajay Dhishan) is an ace swimmer with an eidectic memory - relating to or denoting mental images having unusual vividness and detail, as if actually visible. His character is modelled after Dorothy Allison (1924-1999), a psychic who assisted the police in a number of crime investigations in the USA. This superhuman quality: an out-of-body experience of Arvind, becomes the flesh and backbone for the screenplay to move forward.

The director also carefully builds and shows us interesting back stories of all the key characters.

Until the last 10 minutes, i bet you cannot second-guess who the real serial killer is! Full marks to the editor, who is also the director! That trailer cut and the film cut was in such a way that at no point was i able to pinpoint the killer.

The final reveal is good, but then the film nosedives into social commentary espousing a social cause. And that's where the whole film collapses even though the killer's motivations and reasoning are well-woven into the plot.

The metaphorical descriptions of the killer's instincts and feelings are superb, and in fact it is something that i have never thought about it in that manner - despite reading and knowing about the issue! The killer's motivations certainly threw me off.

Leo John Paul, who has directed the film, makes smart sense of his editing skills to stitch scenes back and forth for an interesting non-linear narrative.

But, the sudden induction of social messaging into an investigative crime thriller is definitely a let down.

Story: 5/10 Direction: 6/10 Screenplay: 7/10 Editing: 8/10 Cinematography: 7/10 (Swimming pool sequences are good.) VFx: 6/10 (Unnecessary VFx shots in few scenes.) Music: 7/10 Acting: 7/10

The film is a one-time watch for the way it was presented on-screen!

We took the girl students from the tribal villages of poolur Malai and Palamalai Malai to watch this movie yesterday at the Palani Revathi Theatre. None of these students had ever been to a theatre in their life. And for their very first movie, it turned out to be a truly special one.

The message at the end of the film left a deep impression on the minds of my students. For children who have lived their lives feeling like they had no one, this movie gave them hope.

Vijay Antony Anna's performance was on par with Hollywood standards. Most notably, the background music was outstanding. Some of the VFX scenes felt a bit like a fantasy movie, but even those were enjoyable. From the beginning to the end of the film, all of us sat in complete silence - that's how deeply we were immersed in the movie.

As will most of Vijay Antony movies - expect quite a lot of preachiness and obnoxious social commentary.

But that being said, the acting, the thiller elements ( setting, screenplay, editing all) are pretty decently made and as a thriller it works really well. Acting was really good, especially the supporting caste and even some of the extras and guest roles.

Vijay was in his usual avatar of non-nonsense, subdued, calculating person, who is somehow super humane in terms of reflexes, intelligence etc. - but the supporting cast and the genre, supports this holier than thou attitude to a great degree - so it works in this movie.

Verdict - Pretty decent and worth a watch.

Maargan (2025), directed by debutant Leo John Paul, really surprised me. I didn't even watch the trailer just went in with a bit of hope after a friend recommended it. The film was tight, with no unnecessary scenes, and gave a satisfying feel. Vijay Antony's background score was terrific. Newcomer Ajay Dhishan did really well, and Vijay Antony also delivered a solid performance. Good production quality and clean visuals. Definitely worth a watch.