What would you do when someone with political influence take up the wall space of your newly built home to draw their party graffiti without seeking for your permission? It is what Mathil talks about. Mathil attempts to portray the fight of a middle class man against an influential politician who trespass his property. Director K. S. Ravi Kumar who has not directed a film in Tamil ever since Lingaa is focused on essaying supporting actor roles. The director turned actor who played the antagonist role on hip hop Tamizha Adhi’s Naan Sirithal is back as a lead character in the political drama Mathil. So how has the flick come out? Will it be a successful venture for K. S. Ravi Kumar in his acting career? To know that let us get in to the movie review.
Mathil follows the life of Lakshmikanthan (K. S. Ravi Kumar), a middle class theater artiste living with his wife, daughter and son. He has worked his whole life, saved up money, and has built a new home for his family. He is very sentimental about his home as he has had bad experiences growing up without a home and has seen his father struggle because of it. His hard work and discipline has resulted in building a new home. Now he enjoys his semi retirement peacefully with his family. But that changes when the election is declared and a group of party men draw their party graffiti on the wall of his newly built home. Irked by the incident Lakshmikanthan approaches the sub inspector (Srinath) of the area but could not hold the men accountable. The men who put up the graffiti are the party cadres of Senathipathi (Mime Gopi), a local politician who is waiting to be named as the party candidate of that constituency.
Lakshmikanthan would not rest until the illustrations are taken off the wall. His efforts infuriate Senathipathi and in order to send a message he cuts off the power supply to Lakshmikanthan’s residence. With the help of his friends Lakshmikanthan restores the power supply. This further maddens Senathipathi and this time he bulldozes the wall. This intensifies the battle between them. Will Senathipathi risk his political candidacy and take on Lakshmikanthan or will Lakshmikanthan a common man beat a powerful man, is what makes the rest of the flick.
Director Mithran Jawahar has cooked up an interesting knot for his entertainer. The different premise of Mathil could have been an interesting political comedy film had it been worked completely from a comical point of view. But he pushes his film in to a path that has been walked over numerous times. He wants his movie to have a message. So he opts to get serious as the film progresses. As long as the film drifts in the comical tone it entertains. But the moment the serious revenge angle kicks in, all we have is the clichés. The lead character takes his battle to the social media and goes viral in no time. God knows, for how long does the lead character becoming an overnight social media sensation thing going to rule over Tamil cinema. Also, it is hard not to recall Madras while watching Mathil as painting on a wall is the core theme of both the entertainers.
The issue that the story teller has taken up to shed light on is a pertinent problem in the state. Thus, one can easily relate with the issue even when the scenes are not convincingly written. It is the ordinary man going up against an influential politician aspect that gets our attention. But the cinematic way in which the commoner deal with the situation make it difficult to for us to pin for the character. In fact, the methods that Lakshmikanthan take to make Senathipathi pay for his transgressions are sometimes funny that one cannot help but laugh. The one thing that the film maker Mithran Jawahar hit right is the casting of K. S. Ravi Kumar as his lead character. Though, one could not shun contemplating actor Prakash Raj in the role.
Director K. S. Ravi Kumar showcases his acting prowess as a lead actor. In fact, it is his performance that holds the flick together at least to a certain point. Actor Mime Gopi carries on from where he left in Madras and he cakewalks his character. Comedians Madhumita, Kathadi Ramamurthy, and Lollu Sabha Swaminathan do not effectively do what they were meant to do. The rest of the cast has delivered a middling performance.
On the technical front, music director L. V. Muthukumarasamy disappoints with both his tracks as well as his background scores. Cinematographer G. Balamurugan’s frames are adequate in covering the movie. Editor M. Thiyagarajan has done his best to keep the running time crisp with his edits.
On the whole, Mathil desires to talk about an issue that is often overlooked but that alone is not enough to make the entertainer cross the line.