Maargan Movie Review: Vijay Antony’s crime thriller is smart and intriguing but takes a nosedive into social commentary

Maargan plot:

After the young woman Ramya’s cold-blooded murder, senior cop Dhruv (Vijay Antony) takes up the case to find the killer who leaves his victims black skinned. A vital clue leads the department to Tamil Arivu (Ajay Dhishan), an ace swimmer with brilliant and photographic memory power, who is visibly upset to hear the name Ramya. What follows is Dhruv’s investigation into finding who the serial killer is and the modus operandi behind the murders.

Maargan review:

A killer leaves victims black-skinned and dumped in garbage bins. It takes only a few seconds for the protagonist Dhruv to decipher that it is not a one-off murder case but that a serial killer is on the run. Thanks to Dhruv’s personal tragedy, which made him lose his daughter in a similar fashion, Maargan takes off with an interesting premise and adding a dash of superhuman quality infused into the storyline, it feels the film might explore spaces the genre has not been accustomed to. Indeed, the film has interesting pockets and sticks to its probe drama genre honestly, but only to suddenly shift tracks in the last moment to make it a social commentary that you least guess or expect. But is that a good or bad news?

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There is a certain level of honesty and hard work that has gone into mounting the story up and until the interval, or even as much as we are coaxed to believe that one character is the killer. A straightforward probe drama is explored wonderfully for the major share of the first half. A superhuman quality attached to Tamil Arivu becomes the flesh and backbone for the screenplay to move forward in a smart and racy way, which makes most of the film a good watch.

Ajay Dhishan, who makes his debut, plays Tamil Arivu, a boy who has been blessed with a photographic memory that doesn’t let him forget anything that he has seen since birth. There is a brief episode where ancient beliefs meet a divine intervention during Arivu’s childhood that shapes him as a man who can easily live and breathe in water, it almost makes him an amphibian whose strength lies in the underwaters. As much as this episode is only brushed upon, this connected to an out-of-body experience soon becomes the backbone of solving the case, that Dhruv must choose to let his guards down in front of Tamil Arivu and vice versa.

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But Maargan also becomes a victim of overload when he delves into the flashback of Arivu’s love life that may not fully contribute to the film. More so when it introduces a social commentary on colourism (remember how the killer leaves his victim black-skinned?), in a rushed flashback that quickly makes pit stops through various points of the story. This message, however, becomes a sudden introduction to a story which so far had been a novel in its attempt, thus bringing it a notch down.

Vijay Antony and Ajay Dhishan, who play the crucial links in the story, perform their roles to the utmost honesty. Leo John Paul, who has directed the film, makes smart sense of his editing skills to stitch scenes back and forth for an interesting non-linear narrative that you almost feel each of the scenes and characters, sometimes a shot and dialogue too, was never out of place. But what weighs down Maargan is its sudden induction of its messaging, that the film feels a little boggled. Loopholes too galore when questions arise on why a killer does not choose to eliminate those contributing to the actual discrimination over those blessed with natural qualities that the society tends to lean towards.

After Hitler and Mazhai Pidikkatha Manithan, Vijay Antony once again returns to thriller and crime films. But this time with Maargan, the film genuinely attempts to interest the audience. Albeit a few missteps and sudden infusing of social message, the film attempts a unique storytelling.

Maargan verdict:

Tamil cinema has been hit by a wave of crime thrillers, and the latest Vijay Antony-starrer Maargan happens to be one that wants to swim along with the tide. And truth be told, Maargan really sets it up with its captivating first half, promising interesting aspects to be explored, only to be let down by a hurried and succumbing pre-climax and climax that makes the film a forgettable thriller, which could have been a potential idea to be encouraged.