Spoilers ahead…
The film stars Vadivelu, Fahadh Faasil, Keerthy Suresh, Udhayanidhi Stalin, and it has parts that are brilliant and parts where the ideas are not matched by the writing
Mari Selvaraj pulls off a stunning character arc in the first half of his third feature, Maamannan, which unfolds in Salem. Vadivelu gives a moving performance as the titular character – his weathered face carries the weight of the ages – and at the very start of the film, he is an MLA. When the title appears, AR Rahman unleashes the kind of fanfare befitting a king. In other words, we are not in a movie where someone from an oppressed caste has to work his way up from a nobody in the party, and reach a high position during a triumphant interval block or a triumphant climax portion. Maamannan, right from the beginning, is wearing the same colour – white – as the politicians from the dominant caste. He has already “arrived”, so to speak, and some of us may wonder what’s left for the film to do. If Karnan’s village already has a bus stop, if Pariyan is already accepted as an equal in his law college, what is going to fuel the rest of the narrative?
You can read the rest of the review here:
https://www.galatta.com/tamil/movie/review/maamannan/
And you can watch the trailer / video review here:
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