𝗠𝗮𝗱𝗵𝗮𝗚𝗮𝗷𝗮𝗥𝗮𝗷𝗮 (𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟱)

The first theatrical movie turned out to be one from the 2013s with Brand Sundar C directorial and Peak Santhanam flexing their skills.

MGR serves as a nostalgia trip down the lane to yesteryear commercial movies of the late 2000s and 2010s. It has all it needs in commercial movies. The do-gooder hero, glamorous heroines, sidekick 4 friends, a caricature villain, 4 fights 5 songs and a wafer thin screenplay.

It has been beaten to death in Indian cinema. But what makes MGR is the Santhanam factor. The comedian is at his zenith. Every counter lands, the timing is impeccable. Santhanam despite turning as hero has delivered some good laughable comedy movies like AI but none of them were to this level. It has been a long time since the tamil cinema comedy was enjoyable as this. MGR is sure to emerge a hit and the major reason for the same is Santhanam.

Vishal as the protagonist is in his former self, the one vishal that's likeable with his boyish charm, the one that we saw in Theeratha Vilayattu Pillai and Thamirabharani. With his physique being the perfect cross section of a muscular and athletic body, he runs, fights, dances, flexes his six pack(quite literally) and excels in being the hero part effortlessly. He doesn't have much scenes to actually act and he does them adequately.

Sundar C has a knack of providing enjoyable entertainers with truck load of artists. He has been doing that for 30 years now. Though, MadhaGajaRaja is no Kalakalappu, it has sufficient marquee elements of the director to keep the movie sufficiently engaging.

Vijay Antony provides passable songs and BG that aren't overpowering neither are they elevating. Loved "my dear loveru" song for it's quirkiness.

The movie is not perfect, infact it's far from it. The editing is poor, the screenplay is predictable sans logic, the abhorrent levels of objectification and the shortcomings are a bunch yet Madha Gaja Raja leaves you with a smile that makes the above mentioned negatives forgivable.

~𝗢𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗮𝗹𝗹, 𝗮 𝗦𝗮𝗻𝘁𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗮𝗺 𝗽𝗼𝘄𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘁𝗮𝗶𝗻𝗲𝗿 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗵𝘂𝗺𝗼𝗿 𝗺𝗮𝗸𝗲𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗺𝗼𝘃𝗶𝗲 𝗲𝗻𝗷𝗼𝘆𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲.

P.S.: The movie might have bombed were it released in 2014. The lack of such mindless commercial movies is the only reason the movie is doing well.

#MadhaGajaRaja