‘Mask’ movie review: Kavin, Andrea anchor a sleek but self-conscious effort

When the disguise yet unveils aft a crisp two-hour runtime, the look you spot down it isn’t that of Kavin, the promising histrion who, aft Bloody Beggar, has erstwhile again daringly taken connected an off-beat genre, oregon Andrea Jeremiah, the ever-impressive acting-singing phenom playing the different lead. The look we spot is of the writer-director Vikarnan Ashok — able, quirky, and ambitious, but self-doubting.

In his debut directorial Mask, Vikarnan would’ve hoped that the quirky attraction of his heady crime-thriller communicative targeting the Gen Zs would disguise his insecurities arsenic a debutant filmmaker, but the ruse falls done aggregate times. Take, for instance, however overtly the movie keeps underlining Kavin’s crooked protagonist Velu’s crookedness and motivation standpoint.

The writer understands however overdone the ‘white knight Robin Hood’ trope has go successful Tamil cinema, and truthful helium understandably writes Velu arsenic an anti-hero, a “kettavan”, but with a motivation spine — the quality plan and however we are taken done what helium does for a surviving are each tastefully delivered successful the beginning. He is simply a hacker, scammer, and blackmailer — with ‘ethical’ arsenic the modular prefix. He’s the spoiled brat lad of a hotelier, a money-minded jackal with a talented enactment team, a conniving detective, and a antheral who wouldn’t unfastened up astir his marital presumption to a love-interest (Ruhani Sharma) until guilt pricks him.

That precise instauration series to the quality and however helium gets entangled with the struggle does the job, but somehow, the writer feels compelled to support repeating dialogues that spell “Naan kettavan, aana eccha illa,” oregon springiness america a disclaimer each clip Velu is astir to shed his skin.

The aforesaid applies to adjacent Andrea’s antagonist, Bhumi, a shady concern proprietor and philanthropist who heads an NGO that protects children from enactment slavery, each of whom would someday extremity up successful her enactment enactment outfit. On 1 hand, she uses these girls to instrumentality power of who she believes is the aboriginal CM (Manivannan, played by Pawan), and connected the other, she protects them with an robust fist. She excessively doesn’t shy from calling herself Bad oregon to amusement the Good and the Ugly their places.

Then again, her shades of grey are spelt retired alternatively than woven organically successful the narrative. This is wherefore scenes that amusement Kavin’s heroism oregon Andrea’s villainy look forced, arsenic if Vikarnan was checking disconnected a database of ingredients that marque the off-beat attraction much palatable.

Vikarnan’s conflict becomes pathetically evident successful however helium attempts to onslaught sentimentality oregon societal commentary, arsenic ‘boring but necessary’ elements. He wants to entreaty to a definite affectional halfway — done an arc astir what turns MG Ramachandran into Radha Ravis — and archer a happening oregon 2 without seeming didactic, and so, a quality utters, “This indispensable beryllium precise boring, arsenic are the backstories of bully people, but we don’t person an enactment but to listen.” The flashback that follows and however it is told lone further exposes the writer’s insecurities.

This self-conscious storytelling concerns you due to the fact that the aforesaid movie from a much assured Vikarnan wouldn’t person to interest astir specified concerns. In this story, erstwhile a mysterious pack wearing Radha Ravi masks bargain a consignment of Rs. 440 crores from Bhumi, she helplessly appoints Velu to ace the lawsuit — not knowing that helium excessively mightiness beryllium sheltering his ain secrets from the nighttime of the robbery. Why does she prosecute a petty detective erstwhile the magnitude progressive is truthful big? Well, that wealth is the predetermination money Manivannan needs to marque a splash astatine the upcoming elections. While she needs a brainy detective, similar Velu, she besides needs him pegged and disposable, again, similar Velu.

It’s a grounded communicative astir Bad vs Bad — which disappointingly tapers successful reasoning and effect — and determination are galore streaks of ingenuity, similar the agelong that begins with a heist connected a supermarket and ends with a hilarious twist involving Achyuth Kumar’s character. Or the back-and-forth checks betwixt Velu and Bhumi successful this crippled of chess. The galore pockets of acheronian humour support you amused, beryllium it a casual speech betwixt Velu and a information guard, oregon a antheral making his woman creation to an Ilaiyaraaja opus astatine a precarious situation, oregon the darkest of all, the frantic concern successful which ‘Naan Sirithaal Deepavali’ plays successful the background. Many quirky ideas enactment with you arsenic well, similar however Velu’s pack schemes their plans astatine a Karupatti java stall, with 1 enactment drinking achromatic java and the different holding cups of beverage coffee.

Mask is besides ably supported by the method squad — the lip-sync, however, is excruciatingly disconnected successful the songs — and cinematographer RD Rajasekhar, composer GV Prakash Kumar and the squad down the film’s accumulation plan each merit praise.

During the pre-release lawsuit of Mask, manager Nelson, whose voiceover narrates the film, said that helium had advised director-producer Vetri Maaran — who was past the film’s producer — to soften a fewer ideas and region a fewer risky ones entirely. Given however blunt the last chopped has turned out, you lone privation to spot the movie Vikarnan would person made had helium been empowered to execute his archetypal vision.

Mask is presently moving successful theatres