Maamannan Movie Review: A Thought-Provoking, Sociopolitical Drama Mari Selvaraj‘s Maamannan is a thought-provoking, sociopolitical drama that explores the power dynamics between oppressors and the oppressed.
At the heart of the film lies a conflict between an arrogant scion of a late politician and an MLA and his son from the oppressed community. While the former is determined to make them bow down to him, the latter is forced to stand up for what is right.
Maamannan Movie Review
The film begins with shots that cross-cut between two violent events. The first of these involves Rathnavelu (Fahadh Faasil), the scion of a late politician (Azhagamperumal) from a dominant caste, who is putting down his prized dog that has lost a race. On the other hand, we get Adiveeran (Udhayanidhi Stalin), a martial arts trainer and the son of MLA Maamannan (Vadivelu), who belongs to the oppressed caste. starting a fight between two of his students.
Maamannan Movie Review: With these, the director shows us the difference between violence against the defenseless and violence against oppression. The conflict initially begins at a smaller level, when Rathnavelu’s money-minded brother (Sunil Reddy), who is running a group of educational institutions, goes after a coaching class run by Leela (Keerthy Suresh) and her college friends.
They have been using the premises of the martial arts school run by Adiveeran. Their college friend, who has offered them the place. When the institute gets ransacked, Adiveeran retaliates, which brings Rathnavelu and Maamannan into the picture. And snowballs into a larger conflict about power, prestige and domination.
Maamannan
The first half of the film has everything we have come to expect from a Mari Selvaraj film. We get shocking scenes of oppression in the form of violence against defenseless men and animals. Long-lasting guilt, a tender romantic track, inhuman villainism, and defiant heroism that makes one to hoot and whistle.
The actors, too, are solid. Vadivelu never once comes across as the comedian we have seen all these years and feels so close to life. Maamannan Movie Review: When the scope of the narrative is pushed to a larger framework, the film’s dramatic potency gets diluted. The second half becomes a political power game between an oppressor who wants the status quo to remain and the oppressed who believe democratic victory will solve their problems (and that of their brethren).
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But these portions lack intensity and even begin to move into the realms of social fantasy. Maamannan is a thought-provoking, sociopolitical drama that effectively explores the power dynamics between oppressors and the oppressed. While the film does an excellent job of portraying the conflict, it falls short in delivering an intense second half. Nevertheless, Maamannan is worth watching for its bold portrayal of power struggles between the privileged and the marginalized. We hope you like to read Maamannan Movie Review.