Maanagaram (2017) :
Brief Review -
A smartly written and intelligently executed crime anthology by Lokesh Kanagaraj on useless city pride. Crime anthologies are always fun to watch because we expect some new stuff, innovative storytelling and lots of surprises. Maanagaram is a perfect fit for that even though it doesn't prove its point property. Well, if the motive doesn't matter to you then Maanagram is fantastic watch for you and if it matters, you can still give it a watch for excellent filmmaking. Maanagaram is a story of Four youngsters who arrive in a big city and with dreams and accidently their lives become interlinked. Actually, this crossover hints a dangerous ride all the time, and it works too but the problem appears in the motiveless screenplay. Maybe, even that's not an issue untill you are enjoying the show but then you have to ask yourself that what was the point of narrating this story at the end? Unfortunately, this question remains unanswered but fortunately it provides a happy ending to almost all the characters as per the justification in cinematic Liberty. There are few useless things in the film which could have been avoided to keep it more curved towards the crime zone. I personally feel that this love story angle and emotional struggle for it actually spoils the main theme of crime dramas unless it has some suspense to reveal at the end, something like we have seen in Aaranya Kaandam (2011). Nevertheless, Maanagaram still has a lot to offer in its own zone. It has smartly written script with gripping screenplay and brilliant direction of Lokesh Kanagaraj. Little more care and it would have been a classic film but its still very much worthy. I didn't understand the logic behind glorifying the fake city pride otherwise it's a terrific crime anthology to watch.
RATING - 7/10*
By - #samthebestest.
