Memorergi good film but with many flaws

Stephanie There is, somehow, an interesting story here, as well as some good acting. There are also some good scenes

Brooklynn There's a more than satisfactory amount of boom-boom in the movie's trim running time.

Cheryl A clunky actioner with a handful of cool moments.

ash-35524 Mudhalvan, directed by the renowned S.Shankar and with a background score composed by A.R. Rahman, would appear to be an awesome movie on paper. After watching it, I can say that Shankar had good intentions to crudely showcase the level of corruption + prejudice present within South Indian cities and communities at the time. However, the movie did not meet my expectations. So, what was good and what derailed this film?Pros:Performances: Arjun performs aptly, displaying the perfect "no- nonsense" attitude when dealing with the issues present at hand and also subtly handling his relationship with Thenmozhi. Raghuvaran is decent as the villain in the movie, delivering his lines with a pinch of harshness and irritation. Songs/BGM: Songs are hella nice. Kudos to A.R. Rahman for crafting such a nice background score. Cons:Performances: Koirala is wasted. The romance angle is completely unnecessary, as she doesn't really play a super substantial role in the film after her introduction (which is very good btw). Vadivelu is annoying as hell. I don't understand what Shankar was thinking when crafting this character. Everyone else was strictly average.Screenplay/Story: Solid message, but haphazard screenplay. Too many songs coupled with the "superhero" abilities of Arjun in this film, which takes away some of the realism that Shankar was trying to shoot for. The second half is a drag, as it is basically a useless fight between the corrupt politicians and Arjun. But that's a fairly standard feature in Tamil films, so I can't blame Shankar too much for falling into that trap.Cinematography/Editing: Action scenes + special effects were generic (to be expected from that time). Some scenes in the beginning went by too fast. As stated earlier, scenes dragged on in the second half. The movie needed to be shot crisper and tighter.Overall: 5.5/10. Watch it for its message and Arjun's performance.

wastemyhateonyou If I had'nt seen this movie before seeing the same director's Indian/Hindustani which had released 3 years earlier, I may not have been so very impressed. While Mudhalvan represents an excellent movie by itself, the director had already produced a movie which was simply much bigger and better, earlier, which thus takes expectations a bit higher.One of the subjects handled in Mudhalvan, namely caste-based politics and vote banks, is very important. If it were'nt for the running time, I think that the same subject should have been explored further. I also did'nt appreciate Arjun in the movie, reducing the caste nos to 4, instead of eliminating caste based reservation in totality? I guess caste based politics have a hand even in movies. See some vijaykanth movies if you want more on that subject.This movie is without a shadow of a doubt, Arjun's best performance in his career. While it may not be Shankar's best, it is again without doubt, one of Shankar's better movies and a must watch.

srininet1 You all may find this review to be a little exaggerated but that is exactly the truth. Nothing but the truth. I have to say, till this date, except for a few exceptions like the movies by Shyam Benegal or Satyajit Ray or for that matter, Satya and Khamoshi, Sholay, Angoor and a few others, I haven't seen such a DIFFERENT and THOUGHT PROVOKING, PRAISE INVOKING AND MARVELLOUS movie as Mudhalvan.It is and will remain an eye-opener for all those in the Indian film industry who have been experimenting with the same love formula umpteen number of times and in effect, producing some of the most sensationally boring love stories of all times (Example: Kaho..Naa Pyar Hai). Hitting us like a bullet, the plot moves swiftly, never leaving any time to think. The story and screenplay, by Shankar himself, deserve mention for being creative, complete and utterly enjoyable to watch.Shankar deserved an award for making this movie with such style and technique, while also keeping the story and other aspects in mind.Pros. Award winning direction, dialogues, script, music, background music, cinematography, first-rate performances by Arjun, Manivannan, Raghuvaran and above all, the super climax, and excellent song picturization.Cons. Manisha, who looks too flabby and old in some scenes

Kalki The movie has its usual cinematic moments. But, the message comes from the heartfelt anguish. The happenings in the country currently attest to this fact and instead of just pointing out the problems, this attempts to point out some of the solutions as well. Very commendable.