Mankatha

Mankatha – 8/10 Ajith's 50th movie certainly has exceeded the hugely speculated expectations it garnered. Like its title, it travels in a racy pace with full of twists and turns presented in a thoroughly entertaining way. Story wise, Mankatha is can be said as the best of all Venkat Prabhu's film. It is thoroughly entertaining with Ajith oozing with energy in every scene with power packed one liners. The films has many scenes at the first half which may seem irrelevant but gets all paid back with the climax explaining everything.

For the other casts, Premji and Vaibhav impresses and are at their best. Action King Arjun proves his proves his dynamic experience even in just few scene he have done. All the other female casts just does fine given that their roles are merely blink-and-miss ones.

Technicality wise, Sakthi Saravanan's cinematography is apt for the commercial action film and Yuvan's music plays as an important factor for the scenes especially the epic BGMs.

Venkat Prabhu has shown maturity in is directing with Mankatha and broke his all the stereotypical heroic roles of Tamil cinema by giving Ajith an Negative role. Kudos to the ultimate star for accepting it bravely putting his name in risk at his 50th film. All said, Mankataha proves that a film need to be artistic to be favoured by critics, but a entertaining film with intelligent twist can garner all the interest from all side.

Verdict : Ajith's show all the way

Mankatha is Ajith Kumar's 50th movie. Hence, there are high expectations. By watching the theatrical trailer, one's interest for the film will surely have soared. To those who came with high expectations, Mankatha did not disappoint. A well-packaged thriller from start to finish.

Mankatha is about a suspended Maharashtra cop, Vinayak(Ajith) who teams up with Sumanth(Vaibhav), SI Ganesh(Ashwin Kakumanu), Prem(Premji) and Mahat(Mahat) to pull of a heist. Hot on their heels are Special Branch officer Prithviraj(Arjun) and the Arumuga Chettiyar's(Jayaprakash)men. A cat-and-mouse chase ensues with usual double-crosses which ends with a surprise twist.

Ajith has done a wonderful job in Mankatha after disappointing performances in Aegan and Asal. After David Billa, his Vinayak Mahadevan character oozes style and substance. A tailor-made role for him. Arjun as Prithviraj is nothing new for us as we have seen him in such roles in the past. Vaibhav,Ashwin and Mahat did a decent job. Premji, as usual managed to evoke laughters here and there with his dialogues and antics. Premji's character reminds us of the 'Napster' from The Italian Job. Jayaprakash fits into the character of Arumuga Chettiyar with ease. Arvind Akash fits the bill as Faisal, Arumuga Chettiyar's henchman. Of the female leads, only Trisha and Lakshmi Rai had importance and did justice to their roles while Anjali and Andrea are wasted.

The other highlight of the film is notably Yuvan Shankar Raja's music. Vilayadu Mankatha, Open the Bottle and Balle Lakka songs stand out and went with the flow of the movie. The two songs, Kannadi Nee and Vaada Bin Laada look mis-placed. The BGM is excellent and goes well with the mood of the film. Editing by Praveen-Srikanth is perfectly executed. Sakthi Saravanan's camera work captured the chase and gunfight scenes well but the colour tone seems to be dull in the first half. Silva's stunts are just the usual stuff and nothing is eye catching. The only drawback are the stunts itself where usage of visual effects can be clearly seen. Realistic stunts could have made the film better.

In a nutshell, Mankatha is Ajith's game from start to finish. Influences of Hollywood films(RED,Italian Job) are evident but Ajith remains the show-stealer. A perfect 50th film and a wonderful treat for Thala's fans.

Mankatha is an Ajith movie all the way. It is a complete action thriller that will narrate the match fixing sagas in international cricket matches.

First time in Tamil cinema history Hero playing totally negative role. Only we show on Hollywood movies.

Mankatha is a racy movie with many twists that keeps everyone glued to the screen till the end of the film. At the end of the movie the bloopers shown of the all the stars are quite a laugh riot.

Undoubtedly Mankatha music composed by the popular Tamil music director Yuvan Shankar Raja is rocking Ajith fans already.

Right from the first frame till the final frame, Ajith has lived the role of a Villain perfectly. (Who would have thought this being his 50th movie !). His evil filled laughter, his styles, his dialogue delivery and more importantly his dance moves were way too good. Thala has proved that he is indeed the "King Maker" as he himself says that in the movie. Rest of the cast just form the cast except Arjun who has portrayed a cop role in a stylish manner. Songs by Yuvan are usual to his standards. Direction by Venkat is good for the major portions of the later half of the movie. First half is slightly slower but gathers momentum as the movie proceeds. Despite few flaws here and there, we forget them at the end thanks to a great climax and a great performance by Ajith all the way. Surely a movie worth watching twice or even more.

The headline says it all. In 'Mankatha', Ajith pulls it off with his impeccable style and excellent performance, which is aptly supported by a racy script and brilliant execution by director Venkat Prabhu and his team.

If cricket was the USP of 'Chennai 28′, the director's first film, 'Mankatha' is also based on the sport but with a difference. It is all about betting, money and the men behind it.

Ajith has appropriately chosen to do 'Mankatha' as his 50th film. It is a movie that has everything his fans would want. He shakes his legs vigorously, evokes laughter, does pulsating stunt sequences and utters catchy one-liners (with some of them going mute).

The first-half belongs to Venkat Prabhu where he shows sparks of 'Saroja' and 'Goa', while the latter part is totally dominated by Ajith. As a merciless baddie behind money, Ajith oozes venom in his eyes. His body language and dialogue delivery compliments it very much. Though the movie has over a dozen characters, it's Ajith all the way. With his remarkable screen presence, he is at his coolest best.

Coming to the story, 'Mankatha' revolves around a suspended cop Vinayak Mahadevan (Ajith) in Maharashtra police. He leads a happy life with his lover Sanjana (Trisha), daughter of an influential local goon Arumuga Chettiyar (Jayaprakash).

Vinayak is a man who dares to do anything for money. But a fun-loving person, he lives his life in his own way.

A suicide by a police officer investigating the betting mafia involved in Indian Premier League (IPL) hogs headlines. Assistant Commissioner of Police Prithvi (Arjun) takes charge to end betting scandal in the sport.

Meanwhile, Arumuga Chettiyar comes to know that a sum of Rs 500 crore betting money for the finals of the IPL is coming to Mumbai. He uses his nexus with underworld in Mumbai and tries to route it through his recreation centre.

Sumanth (Vaibhav) is Arumuga Chettiyar's protégé. He hatches a conspiracy to take away the money in the company of a police officer Ganesh (Ashwin). They are joined by Mahanth (Mahanth), who runs a bar in Mumbai and Prem (Premgi Amaran), a fun-loving IIT pass out.

Coming to know of their plans, Vinayak steps in. He promises to help the team members and divide the booty between them. They even succeed in taking away the money and decide to wait for an appropriate time to share the fortune.

In the meantime, a shocked Arumuga Chettiyar begins his hunt for the treasure and every move of him is closely followed by Prithvi. All hell breaks loose when Mahanth and Prem escape with the cash and Vinayak suspects Sumanth.

Turn of events lead to Sumanth being captured by police and Prithvi forces him to turn an approver. Guns roar and losses occur on either side.

Now Vinayak takes the centre-stage and with his wicked plans goes hammer and tongs to take away the booty. A surprise awaits him in the form of Prem and Sona (Lakshmi Rai). When Vinayak locates the treasure, Prithvi breathes under his neck. It is now battle of fists between them. Who emerged the winner is narrated with an interesting twist in the climax.

All cheers to Ajith. The man after a long gap gets a role where he can perform with variety. He is at his best and his salt and pepper look is catchy and attractive.

As a suave cop, a dreaded don or a adorable lover, he leaves his charm on screen. His uttering of one-liners to Arjun evokes applause. His imitating Premgi in few scenes brings the roof down in laughter.

Arjun lives up to his Action King tag. He adds variety on screen and is cool and consummate as a police officer.

Trisha appears in a few scenes besides a song and disappears. Andrea as Arjun's wife, Lakahmi Rai as call girl and Anjali in the role of Vaibhav's wife play blink-and-miss roles. Jayaprakash gets to play a decent part in the film. At places he reminds one of Kamal Haasan's role in 'Nayakan'. Vaibhav gets a meaty character and he utilises the opportunity.

Both Ganesh and Mahanth are tailor-made for the roles, while Premgi is at his best in the film. He takes off from where he left in 'Goa'. At ease in coming out with comical one-liners, his admiration for Ajith is visible on screen.

Watch out for good cinematography in such an action-packed film. Sakthi Saravanan has given a fresh colour to it. It's Yuvan Shankar Raja's mass tunes that elevates the mood. And he has shown difference in background score too (especially in the godown-fight scene in the second half)..

Give due credit to Venkat Prabhu, the director who seems to have given a film that sits well on Ajith. He understood Ajith's strength and played it well. Who said he can only direct laughathons? With 'Mankatha', he has graduated to go higher places.

On the whole, it's job well done by Venkat Prabhu, producer Dhayanidhi Alagiri and other members of the team. If at all there is a minus, it is the lengthy first half.

I FELT LIKE WATCHING SACHIN TENDULKAR GONE OUT OF 99 WHEN ARJUN SHOOT AJITH. BUT WHILE COMING OUT OF THEATRE I FELT THALA MADE A RECORD SCORE OF 200 UNBEATEN.