Starring: Ajith Kumar, Trisha, Arjun, Andrea Jeremiah, Lakshmi Rai, Premji, Anjali, Vaibhav
Direction: Venkat Prabhu
Music: Yuvan Shankar Raja
Production: Dayanidhi Azhagiri, (Cloud Nine Movies)
Rating:

Review:Mankatha works only because of Ajith

The first thing that needs to be said about the enormously anticipated movie of the year, Cloud Nine and Sun Pictures' Mankatha, directed by Venkat Prabhu, is that this is probably the film Ajith has enjoyed making the most. This being his 50th film, as the title scorches the screen, you expect fire-works. Fireworks there are aplenty: guns blaze, men are liberally killed and gangsters run all over the place. In the midst of it all sits Thala Ajith, a lazy grin on his face, leaning stylishly against a car or in a dilapidated warehouse, and such is his screen presence that you almost forget the gaping inconsistencies in the screenplay. Almost.

For Mankatha, as you discover around half an hour into the film, depends entirely on its swashbuckling hero/villain, who appears in every frame, and makes sure your attention stays on him, and only him.

The beginning is worthy of any mass hero: a terrified Faizal (Aravind Akash) is tied down in a desert by the police, who are going to kill him any second, when a four-wheeler practically flies through the air, lands on the ground, scattering sand, and Vinayak Mahadevan (Ajith) emerges, salt-and-pepper hairdo, lazy contempt in his eyes and a stylish swagger, all perfectly in place. Bullets and guns are in plenty, but somehow no one uses them. Instead, they fall like dominos as Vinayak smashes through them.

Cut to the setting of the story: Mumbai, bookies, betting in crores with the IPL as the background (except that cricket is not a part of the story), a local bigwig, Arumugam Chettiar (Jayaprakash), the owner of a ragged-looking theatre who is part of the bookies-racket, and many, many thugs. Vinayak's henchman Sumanth (Vaibhav) greedily eyes the cash that's heaped under his master's aegis. Together with his friend Mahath (Mahath), owner of a bar, Vinayak decides on a daring but rather bland heist. Roped in are cop Ganesh (Ashwin) and Prem (Premgi Amaren), a curly-haired, bumbling IT expert who seems to hack into any system within seconds.

In the midst of all this, having romanced the pretty Sanjana (Trisha), Vinayak gate-crashes the party, practically elbowing himself into the proceedings. He doesn't really bring in fantastic plot-twists, wonderful techniques or novel ideas to do away with 500 crores of money -- but who cares when he flips cigarettes like a pro, drinks like a fish and fights like Terminator?

And so goes the story -- Vinayak pits himself against the Special Force tasked to rout out the villains, and against its head, ACP Prithviraj (Arjun). And a series of extremely predictable, sequences follow, infused with dashes of humour that work only sporadically.

Ajith, the star that he is, has carried practically the whole film on his capable shoulders -- and he's simply had a blast as the guy whose character sports negative shades. He utters four-letter cuss words with the ease of long practice, sleeps with random women, drinks like there's no tomorrow and lusts after money with a passion that sweeps us all away. And you wonder why no one ever gave him a role like this after Vaali. The man's screen-presence works wonders -- and here, he's also had a blast dancing.

By contrast, naturally, the rest of the cast is at least ten paces behind him, and it's not all their fault; their roles have been written that way. Arjun, Trisha, Lakshmi Rai, Andrea Jeremiah, Vaibhav, Jayaprakash, though they perform well, are all relegated to the sidelines. Premgi Amaren isn't really that funny, except once or twice. And that's a pity. Mahath and Ashwin don't really have much to do. And why on earth did Anjali accept a role like this?

Sakthi Saravanan's camera-work isn't scintillating, but it manages to keep you interested. Praveen K L and N B Srikanth's editing could not have been more effective. Yuvan Shankar Raja's Vilaiyadu Mankatha is mesmerising; he also plays around with some of his father's tunes for the background score, appropriately placed. The rest of the songs, while passing muster, suffer because of their silly placement. A story that revolves around a heist needs to be racy, keeping you on the edge of the seat, biting your nails. And this is where it falters.

Director Venkat Prabhu has made a name for himself on his ability to wring humour from his tried and tested cast. The problem is, with Ajith, the star, present, he's vacillated from giving him enough screen-space, yet retaining the hilarity. And it doesn't really work. An hour into the film and you wonder if the huge build-up so far is just a lot of hot air. The dialogues aren't funny, the sequences are very predictable, the gun-fights are silly at times, the heroines vanish if you blink, and it's only in the last ten minutes that the lost momentum re-surfaces.

If you're a veteran of heist movies, and especially our own mass-masala movies, you should be able to guess the climax within the first ten minutes of the film. It is, in fact, the behind-the-scenes montage that's by far the best in the movie.

If Mankatha works even just a bit, it's because of Ajith, whose charisma shines through. Watch it only for him. The rest really don't matter.



It's Ajith's 50th venture. What more it s directed by Venkat Prabhu with betting scandal in cricket as its theme. A huge star cast including Trisha, Arjun among others raised all expectations. Thats Mankatha. Tamil Movie Mankatha -  Mankatha Movie Review. Lets check out the review.

Story
Mankatha is a racy and adrenaline-rushing story of a Maharshatra police officer Vinayak Mahadevan (Ajith)  who is suspended for helping a smuggler to escape from police encounter. He starts leading life in his own way. He falls for Sanjana (Trisha), daughter of an influential local goon Arumuga Chettiyar (Jayaprakash) in Mumbai. A tough cop Prithvi (Arjun) takes charge to end betting scandal in IPL cricket in Mumbai. Arumuga uses his links with dons in Mumbai tries to route through his old theatre , a cash of over Rs 500 crore to be used in betting.

Sumanth (Vaibhav), a goon working for Arumuga Chettiyarplans to take away the booty with the help of his friends Ganesh (Ashwin), Mahanth (Mahanth), who owns a bar in Mumbai and Prem (Premji), a IIT graduate. Vinayak joins the race. he promises to help them and divide it between them. Trouble starts after they take away the acsh. Both Arumugha Chettiyar and police are now on their heels. Meanwhile, Mahanth and Prem escape with the cash. It all upto Vinayak now. The battle shifts between him and Prithvi.

Mangaatha has all the entertaining elements. It is especially for Ajith Kumar's fans and the people, who love action-oriented movies. Family audience may not like the subject. One should watch for the actor's performance and Venkat Prabhu's attempt to make the movie in Hollywood style with local budget!

Performance
Its Ajith all the way. He is simply amazing in the role of a dreaded baddie. With his usual looks sans makeup, he hogs all limelight. His one-liners brings laughter.  Arjun does the role of a cop once more. But he is charming here. Trisha and Lakshmi Rai does play their part well.  Andrea as Arjun's wife and Anjali in the role of Vaibhav's wife do minuscule roles.Vaibhav gets a meaty role and he utilise the opportunity.  Premji did what he did in Goa and Chennai 28.

“Unakku ide maadiri 500 pondaati kedappa daa.” - with this dialogue, Ajith completes his mission of breaking all the syntax of a Tamil hero and has gone on to prove that an actor should strictly treat the script as the hero. Take a bow Ajith! It is a memorable 50^th film indeed.

Technicalities
It is technically well-made. Sakthi Saravanan's lens captures the stunts well. It forms the backbone of the movie. Yuvan Shankar's tunes add variety to it. His open song Mankatha...is celebrated in theatres. Director Venkat Prabhu seems to have done his part well.  He has laced thrills, spills and humour in right mix.

Analysis
Mankatha is boyish film. It is all racy and rivetting.The first half is light and simple. The game really begins in latter part. With Venkat Prabhu and Ajith giving their best, Mankatha rocks all time.


The film had been in news ever since the film was supposed to go on floors. Directed by Venkat Prabhu, produced by Dayanidhi Azhagri's Cloud Nine Movies and distributed by Sun Pictures.

Mankatha Review - Story/ Plot
Here we give you the insight of the story. Ajith as plays the role of Vinayak Mahadev, a police officer, who gets suspended. Vinayak and Prithviraj (played by Arjun) are friends who also is a police official.

Vinayak however stars working against the police department and forms his own gang. He poses threat to the police officers and Prthviraj ends up chasing Vinayak.

Vinayak along with Sumanth and Prem (played by Vaibhav and Premji respectively) forms a team and they stars stealing money.

As time passes by the gang of Vinayak gets caught one by one by Prithviraj. Although he wishes to catch Vinayak and plots ways he wouldn't be able to catch him.

We got introduced to Sanjana (played by Trisha), who just appears in few scene in the movie as the love interest of Vinakyak, who is the daughter of the Villain, a Casino owner. Sanjana is used as bait to win over the casino owner and get the money.

Vinayak who wins over lot of money and escapes with it. But there is a twist in the plot. To watch out for what the twist is all about one need to go the theater to catch Thala Ajith in action.

Overall – Mankatha film will appeal to all Thala fans for sure and will definitely be a hit among the masses. Thala Ajith in an all new 'Salt & Pepper' avatar is set to rock the screen and is doing so. The thala fans are going crazy to catch the Ultimate star in a stylish negative role, who uses a lot of bad words and steals money. Ajith entertains his fans unlike his previous duds.

Seems like Venkat Prabhu as a fan of Ajith has understood the pulse of the audience and fans of Ajith that he has given such an entertainer, where Ajith rules the game of action.

Verdict – Thala Ajith, not just steals the money in the movie but – steals the show completely!

Mankatha Crew
Directed by - Venkat Prabhu
Produced by - Dhayanidhi Alagiri, Vivek Rathnavel
Story, Screenplay by - Venkat Prabhu
Music by - Yuvan Shankar Raja
Cinematography - Sakthi Saravanan
Editing by - Praveen KL, NB Srikanth
Studio - Cloud Nine Movies
Distributed by - Sun Pictures, Ayngaran International (Worldwide), Radaan Mediaworks (I) Ltd (Tamilnadu theatricals Rights)

Mankatha Cast
Ajith Kumar as Vinayak Mahadev
Arjun as Prithviraj
Trisha Krishnan as Sanjana
Vaibhav as Sumanth
Premji Amaren as Prem
Mahat Raghavendra as Mahat
Ashwin Kakumanu as Ganesh
Aravind Akash as Faizal
Andrea Jeremiah as Sabitha
Anjali as Suchi
Lakshmi Rai as Sona
Jayaprakash as Mahadevan
Subbu Panchu
Vijay Vasanth
Sona Heiden
Kainaat Arora in a special appearance



Guys!!!! I take the privilege of telling yu ppl tht MANKAATHA is superb!!!:)))..Ajit is Superb acting…and the film was seen here lik in chennai theatre..all were shouting Thala thala…..Arjun was like He lived tht character…His character is actually equal to Ajit….Trisha acting was gud but she comes in very few scenes…andrea,mahat,prem and vaibhav played there parts….You wil be terrorised the way Ajit played his part in the film…it wil be like All these years Ajit was a villain….Guys i hope Yu ppl wil enjoy it tooo..Yu can think it as BILLA^10….Yuvan music and background is excellent…very less dialogues Ajit speaks, fully style and background music is awesome…negatives are some parts could be related to usual tamil films…and Climax is the main twist which yu wil not expect….but it wil be superb.


Viewers Review

Plot - 7/10
Action/Thriller - 8/10
Cinematography - 9/10
Overall - 8/10

The year's most anticipated film of Tamil Industry is finally rocking in cinemas near you beginning today. I would like to be honest with two things, one I'm a fan of Venkat Prabhu's direction and secondly I'm not a Thala's fan. Vijay had always been my favourite but after watching Mankatha, Thala got my heart!!!!


As what the plot was buzzed around with, Mankatha revolves around a Mafia gambling gang and so it was.
( SPOILER ALERTS ). First scene of the film already pumps your heart at max rate because this is one hell of a way to introduce Thala in his 50th film. Not only that, people will start going mad when ' Vilayadu Mankatha ' song is set early in this film! The only downfall of the film was the first half where some scenes were so easily predictable and the plot develops slow and steadily. At a point you will be feeling bored to death if you predicted all upcoming scenes and if you did just like me than you just took Venkat Prabhu's mega bait !!! When you are hooked to your own mind-plot and when it all goes with a flow, second half of the film will make you stand up and whistle for the direction. It was all about MONEY MONEY MONEY MONEY MONEY....UMMAH.


Direction wise, Venkat Prabhu sir had developed much since Goa and his direction keeps getting better and better and better.Premji Amaren, famous for his comedy scenes did a few laugh-out-loud scenes only and we know there was better comedies in Chennai 600028 or Goa but that doesn't matter much in an action-thriller film. Ajith sir too had comedy scenes with Premji which tickles your stomach here and there. Truthfully, all credits should go to the cinematographer and film editors Sakthi Saravanan and Praveen/Srikanth. Editing was stunning, actions were amazing and Thala was rocking the ground in every single appearances !!!!!!


Not forgetting our Action King, a special op Police Ofiicer who tracks gambling activities and somehow plays cat and mouse with Ajith. No worries because you can finally see Action King and Thala on a one-one fighting scene in the climax which went with a twist that cramps your whole body. Thala is,was and will be the best villain of all time and all previous villains cannot be compared to Thala's style,dialogues,stunts and expressions.Yuvan's background score blended well with the film and songs which already topped the charts will make you sit and watch them playing instead of going to the toilet. On the other hand, Trisha was just a toy who Thala was playing with and she did not play on the main storyline much. Buzz was going around that Vijay was in the film but actually it was just a cinema scene where ' Vinnai Kappan Oruvan ' song was playing.One thing you can't expect to see in this film is real-life gambling scenes despite it being a gambling money film. Ending credits shows some warm yet funny scenes from the film's shooting and you would go off smiling happily after watching those mini scenes. Everyone played their parts well and credits should be given to Venkat Prabhu and his team.

Mankatha is being a massive hit in Malaysia during all first day shows since all tickets were sold out. I'm proud to say that I was the early ones to catch Mankatha on the big screen. Mankatha could easily be a blockbuster for all it's hype and could be equal to last year's Endhiran.

Despite being as an Ilayathalapathy's loyal fan, I trully loved Mankatha for it's uniqueness and thankfully it was not a typical Tamil mass masala film. Overall, Mankatha is thrilling, heart-pounding and mind-blowing although some scenes were predictable and slow but that should not stop anyone from watching it.