Movie Review ‘Maan Karate’: Debutant director fails to live up to hype

Cast: Sivakarthikeyan, Hansika Motwani, Vamsi Krishna, Sathish, Soori, Writer Shaji

Director: Thirukumaran AR Murugados

Rating: **1/2

Sivakarthikeyan-Hansika's much awaited film Maan Karate finally hit the silver screens on Friday April 4.

Sivakarthikeyan appears in the role of Peter from Royapuram, Chennai. He is in love with Yazhini (Hansika) and poses to be a boxer to woo her, as she happens to be a sports lover. In a bid to prove his love for Yazhini, Peter has to win a boxing competition. Peter, who knows nothing of boxing, manages to win against his opponents with the help of a technique called Maan Karate (Deer Karate). At the end, he has to fight against the defending boxing champion who is also named Peter (Vamsi Krishna) and who wins the championship forms the crux of the story.

"Maan Karate" is a mix and match of several genres like fantasy, romance, comedy and drama. Critics applauded Sivakarthikeyan's performance in the film. They have also heaped praise on Sukumar's camera work and Anirudh's background scores and editing done by Aswin.

While the film's first half is enjoyable with pleasant moments, and keeps the audience glued to the screen. The second half comes across as a predictable plot and is stretched a bit to far. The slow pace of the film adds to the misery and could have cut short and kept the momentum going. Many critics feel, director Thirukumaran could have worked harder on the screenplay to come up with a better film. Sivakarthikeyan impresses his audiences by his brilliant dance moves and the slow paced film comes alive.

The chemistry between the to lead actors is believable and comes across as natural, giving the film a much needed plus point.

Sivakarthikeyan has done his job and there are no distinguishing elements in his acting, except for the climax, where he has portrayed his emotions well.

Hansika’s slim avatar is welcomed by the audience and provides ample amount of glamour in the film.

Other casts include Vamsi Krishna, Sathish, and other actors have done a fair job. Anirudh, Soori and AR Murugadoss have done guest appearances in the film.

The film’s strength is its music by Anirudh, who has churned out chartbusters like ‘Maanja’, ‘Darling Dambakku’, ‘Royapuram Peter’ and ‘Open the tasmac’ which helped the film in getting a good opening.

Sukumar gets full marks for his brilliant Cinematography and Editing by Aswin is impressive.

Verdict: For Sivakarthikeyan and Hansika fans, this movie will prove to be decent entertainer, if not a blockbuster.