MANKATHA Review: Ajith dazzles in the anti-hero flick
The film has everything that Ajith fans would want and some more
Every actor would love to do an anti-hero role at least once in their career. From Rajinikanth to Silambarasan, there are no exceptions to this craving. Mankatha is Ajith’s 50th film and the actor unleashed his charm doing a baddie in Vaali repeats the act. Director Venkat Prabhu, known for doing light-hearted films, takes up an action-packed thriller in the company of the mass hero. If cricket was the basic crux of Venkat Prabhu’s Chennai 28 (his debut film as a director), Mankatha is also based on the willow game, albeit with a difference. The spotlight here is not on the field but on betting, money and the men behind it.
The actor who failed to cheer his fans in his previous flick Aasal, has managed to satisfy the appetite of his fans in Mankatha. Ajith slips into the role of the baddie whom we love to hate with élan, hogging the limelight with his charismatic screen presence. While the first half is more an extension of the director’s earlier films like Chennai 28 and Saroja, the later half is dead serious, action-packed and racy. Vinayak Mahadevan (Ajith) is a suspended cop in Maharashtra police. He falls in love with Sanjana (Trisha), daughter of an influential local goon Arumuga Chettiyar (Jayaprakash). Vinayak is a man behind money. He has least respect for values in life, wants to become the richest. A suicide by a police officer investigating the betting mafia involved in Indian Premier League (IPL) cricket hogs headlines. Assistant Commissioner of Police Prithvi (Arjun) takes charge to free the sport from betting. Meanwhile, Arumuga Chettiyar, who comes to know that Rs 500 crore betting money for the finals of the IPL is coming to Mumbai, uses his underworld links 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 his friends – a police officer Ganesh (Ashwin), Mahanth (Mahanth), who runs a bar, and Prem (Premgi Amaran), an IIT graduate. When he comes to know of their plans, Vinayak steps in. He promises to help the team members and divide the wealth 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 though every move of him is being closely followed by Prithvi. The attention then shifts to Vinayak and the battlelines are redrawn – it is nowVinayak vs Prithvi.
After a long gap, Ajith sheds the stereotype tag. Arjun plays the Action King role to perfection. Trisha, Andrea, Anjali and Lakshmi Rai play minuscule roles. Vaibhav and Jayaprakash leave their mark on screen. Yuvan Shankar Raja’s music is passable with a couple of racy tunes. Sakthi Saravanan’s cinematography is a major strength. Venkat Prabhu seems to have played to Ajith’s strength in Mankatha. The actor’s mass appeal has given the director the liberty to add more of action and punch lines. On the flip side, the first half is too lengthy and long sequences mar the flow. All said, Ajith fans will love this film.
First Published: 2.47 PM IST 09.03.2011
ram
Posted at 9:06 PM on September 10, 2011
gambler (dub MANKATHA) was also going to be a super hit without expctation in telugu superb movie ajith,arjun rocks.
background music was superb.
Kiruba
Posted at 1:18 PM on September 9, 2011
It’s reallY A RAcy movie ,but u come across movie clearly some logic is missing . Except that it s d g8 treat 4 thala fans
Ravi
Posted at 3:51 AM on September 8, 2011
MEGA MOKKA FILM…
NEVER seen such a horrible film..
I’m NOT a vijay fan to say wrong about Ajith..
This is a waste film, it’ s not even worth to watch for free..
kratos
Posted at 1:21 AM on September 12, 2011
go and watch tamil cinemas copycats useless remake movies
bullet
Posted at 11:52 PM on September 7, 2011
Have never seen so much crowd for a night show.thala pola varuma
bullet
Posted at 11:52 PM on September 7, 2011
Have never seen so much crowd for a night show.
thala
Posted at 11:08 AM on September 7, 2011
nara ku
prabu
Posted at 4:51 PM on September 6, 2011
THALA ROCKS. HE IS A WONDERFUL PERSON. MANGATHA DA.
umer01
Posted at 10:40 AM on September 6, 2011
the actor just looks like Paresh rawal really dashing and fierce
mani
Posted at 4:44 PM on September 5, 2011
Thala super
anandh raj
Posted at 1:26 PM on September 5, 2011
thala all ways rockssss star
Arjun
Posted at 12:25 PM on September 5, 2011
Nice style by thala.. And Arjun and Ajith both anti hero concept is a nice climax … A decent movie !!
sahran
Posted at 2:15 AM on September 5, 2011
thala all ways rockssss star
rajasekaran
Posted at 4:36 PM on September 4, 2011
arjun is hero and villian is ajith .i like scene in which arjun beat ajith severe and kill him it must happen in reality thala su… and fu….
suku
Posted at 5:15 PM on September 4, 2011
Hi Rajesh, will you shut your *****mouth and ditch?????
sangeetha
Posted at 2:37 PM on September 4, 2011
ajith is stylesh man world beauty holly wood star
ram
Posted at 11:46 AM on September 4, 2011
ungaluku ellam manasatchiye illayada . padam sariyana bore adhuvum anda 500 kodiya kadathara scene onnu irrukudhe adha appadi mookaiyava edupanga . pudhu director kitta kodutha kooda nalla edupanda. i am a common man . dont give the good comments for that film
vijay
Posted at 8:42 AM on September 5, 2011
dai badu vaiya mudura padam super in tamil industry no one can do this film such a raceing movie
praveen
Posted at 9:43 AM on September 4, 2011
dei….nan vijay fan da….
ana “THALA” padam mankatha mathiri varadhu da..
hats off
“THALA”…..
thala thala than……..
love ya..
nimmy
Posted at 2:11 PM on September 7, 2011
@praveen : unaku nalla taste irukku machi…
praveen
Posted at 9:42 AM on September 4, 2011
dei….nan vijay fan da….
ana “THALA” padam mankatha mathiri
hats off
“THALA”…..
thala thala than……..
love ya..
Muthuvel.J
Posted at 7:53 AM on September 4, 2011
50 th padam na intha mathiri than da irrukanum. Thala unge padthula atlest screen la vara sceen athu kuduthingale . Thanks thala by thalapthi vijay fans.
MATHAN
Posted at 3:51 AM on September 4, 2011
This is the 50th film in Ajit’s career and hence it evoked lots of craze among the audiences in general and his fans in particular. Almost all the websites, film magazines and other presented rave reviews for the movie…..
Bellamkonda Suresh bagged the dubbing rights of the film for Telugu and the dubbing works are in brisk progress. The producer announced the title of the Telugu version as ‘Gambler’-INDIAGLITZ.COM(telugu)
kumaran
Posted at 3:49 AM on September 4, 2011
Ajit Kumar’s latest film ‘Mankatha’ with Trisha pairing up in the female lead was released recently in Tamil Nadu and got record openings, which are higher than Tamil Super Star Rajanikanth’s film ‘Enthiran’-INDIAGLITZ( Telugu)
SS
Posted at 12:28 AM on September 4, 2011
First half boring. But still can watch once.
Kannan.JP
Posted at 7:58 PM on September 3, 2011
Thala padam semaya iruku :-) Thala kalaku thala :-) 50th movie Mankatha rocking the screens. :-) This is my Fu**ing Game :-)
THIRU
Posted at 7:00 PM on September 3, 2011
i watched the movie .excelent and fight is super i think this year blockbuster movie . and thanks to mankatha team & sun picture.
Patriot
Posted at 2:55 AM on September 4, 2011
Dey losu ithu yellam oru padama.. Mokka padam kandippa flop than..Yetho sun pictures ad koduthu odunaathan undu..
matha
Posted at 3:41 AM on September 4, 2011
padam super MANKATHA da…!
chandru
Posted at 3:14 PM on September 4, 2011
what man you can’t digest that the film is blockbuster and does not need any promotions, already broke all the records silly guys. MANKATHA da.
ajithmoncy
Posted at 6:28 PM on September 3, 2011
i like that THALA
Rajesh
Posted at 5:45 PM on September 3, 2011
Mankatha Thala completed His half century with a bang its a fantastic entertainer and brilliant screenplay, hats off to Prabu for this bumber hit movie..! And Thala rocks…………….!