Miruthan review

Director: Shakti Soundar Rajan

Cast: Jayam Ravi, Laxmi Menon, Kali Venkat

You are opening a whole new genre in a film industry; that makes a lot of things easier: you can steer away from cliches, you have the liberty of taking a simple and straightforward script, and you can get as creative as you want to. It is baffling that Shakti Soundar Rajan hasn't tried anything new in the first ever zombie film of Tamil cinema. It is the first ever, but that doesn't mean you can treat audiences as though they are ignorant about zombie films altogether. Show us a picture of Milla Jovovich and you can hear us shout back "Resident Evil".

The opening shot of the film has a gang of NBC-suit-clad (Nuclear Biological Chemical) guys loading containers on to a truck. The containers have 'Danger' written all over them and the inevitable happens. A container falls down and the dangerous 'something' pours all over the street. The gang chooses not to report it to the seniors, and hours later, a dog is seen feeding on the spillover. The zombie film is now good to go. What is that dangerous liquid? Who are those guys? What is that industry? Nothing is revealed, but nevermind. It is understandable that the director wants to get straight down to the point. But what is the point, any which way?

The script is treated so indifferently that you don't empathise with the deaths and after a few minutes into the second half, even if the hero turns a zombie, it won't matter to you. The run-time of the film is less than two hours, but somehow it feels like the space-time is distorted and you are stuck in the theatre for eternity (Like getting stuck in one of the planets from Christopher Nolan's Interstellar).
The story is that of any typical zombie film. The people of Ooty become zombies because of some viral infection. Miruthan, a traffic inspector, his young sister, Laxmi Menon and a few doctors have to get to the Coimbatore Government Hospital to save the day. A few not-so-ingenius twists, and tada! The first ever zombie film in Tamil is ready.

For a genre like this one, you don't need a story. Agreed. But where are the thrills? Where are the scenes that throw you off your seat? At least, where is a racy screenplay?
As far as the actors' performances are concerned: Jayam Ravi has done a decent job and Kali Venkat makes you laugh in a few instances, but his jokes maul the feel of the movie. Laxmi Menon doesn't have anything substantial to deliver, but she does her job alright.

The music is a big letdown in the film. Even when visuals fail to create the suspense, it can be contrived by an eerie BGM. But what we get from Imaan is very disappointing. And the placement of the Mirutha song is shocking. To pass through the five-minute song is excruciating pain.
A potential script and actors are wasted because of an indifferent treatment in Miruthan.

Source Link : intoday.in