The 2022 Disney+ Hotstar release Maaran is a Tamil-language political thriller that takes all the predictable turns to tell a righteous story. Directed and written by Karthick Naren, the dialogues and screenplay is co-written by Suhas–Sharfu and Vivek. The film is produced by T. G. Thyagarajan, Sendhil Thyagarajan and Arjun Thyagarajan of Sathya Jyothi Films, with music by G. V. Prakash Kumar, cinematography by Vivekanand Santhosham and editing by Prasanna G. K.
The film stars Dhanush in the titular role, along with Malavika Mohanan as Tara, Smruthi Venkat as Chitti, Sivakarthikeyan as Srinivasan, Samuthirakani as Pazhani, Ramki as Gurumoorthy and Krishnakumar Balasubramanian as Arjun. The cast also includes Prashanth Rangaswamy, Jayaprakash, Aadukalam Naren, Bose Venkat, Mahendran, Ameer and Ilavarasu. The film has a runtime of 130 minutes with subtitles available in English and audio in Tamil and other Indian regional languages.
– Disney+ Hotstar’s Maaran Review Does Not Contain Spoilers –
Maaran: Righteous Journalism, Rigid Premise
The 2022 film Maaran promises to direct audiences towards a path that supports, promotes and encourages righteous journalism and, shows the whitewashed side where relevant and real news takes over celebrity gossip and scandalous affairs. However, in the attempt to try and make this social drama into a political thriller, the film loses direction and excitement, leaving viewers with a plotline that might visually look stylish but lacks any real taste.
Dhanush’s character Maaran is a young man who has lost his father as a child due to his father’s just nature to say the truth via news and media. He loses his mother to the birth of his sister and, he comes to the parental figure in his sister’s life after the tragedy. In a typical South Indian film opening credit song, the entire growing process and the lovely bond share the siblings are accounted for. In the present day and age, we see Maaran land his feat in the world of journalism by exposing scary political manipulations which lands his sister in trouble.
What happens to our titular character and his sister is what comes undone in the entire film along with some saucy twists that should have been savoury but, end up becoming predictable and unenthusiastic.
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Maaran shines a light on the themes of what real journalism should look like along with the bitter political truths of the nation and love between two siblings. However, in trying to shine a light on all these different aspects the film somewhere loses focus and all that remains with us is a generic unforgettable story. Dhanush comes across as the only real star in the film and, that is not just because he is the hero and has the arc that is smart, fun and likeable but, also because the supporting cast is too weak to pay attention to.
Starting from the political motivations to the exploration of brotherhood, all the plots are built really well but, closed in a rough and haphazard manner. Certain subplots either come across as irrelevant or have not been explored fully to aid the film, such as Malavika and Dhanush’s romantic trope, Smruthi Venkat’s character losing her eyesight and getting it back almost immediately and much more.
Maaran: Final Verdict
Overall, the film really fails to impress be it the plot, music or acting. The film has the right intentions and a really powerful theme but, the execution fails for the viewers to engage with it and invest themselves. Dhanush is the film’s only saving grace and makes it worth the watch with his charming and clever performance.
You can watch the film Maaran now, streaming on Disney+ Hotstar.
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