Zee5’s Mathil Review: A Political Alley to Avoid

Mathil is a Tamil movie that is currently streaming on Zee5, directed by Mithran Jawahar. It’s not like the usual South Indian masala movies; it is more content-based. Nowadays, filmmakers and producers are giving in much thought while coming up with a story for OTT platforms. They want to put up a mirror to society to portray all the evil and corrupted notions taking place around us.

The story revolves around a retired theatre artist Lakshmikanthan (KS Ravikumar), and how his life takes detours, twists and turns all of a sudden.

The film is about Lakshmikanthan, who wanted to finally live his dream with his family after retiring as a theatre artist. He belongs to a very middle-class family, and one of his dreams was to have his own house. After he achieves his life-long dream and starts to live happily, he locks horns with a “big bull”. But, who is this big bull and what happens to our protagonist?

Here comes our daily life villains, the politicians. Some Indian states are observing elections now, which is why this movie is so apt, and what drew me to it.

After Lakshmikanthan started living in the house with his family, a few goons came and drew their party’s logo on Lakshmi’s walls. Lakshmikanthan files a complaint against Senapathi’s (Mime Gopi) party, but nothing really happens, only to find out that they have destroyed his house’s walls and cut the power supply to make them suffer. And with this, both of them declare war against each other. Lakshmi, being a very simple man, how far could he go without any influence? On the other hand, Sena is the chosen one from his party who is two steps away from being an MLA. What happens next and how will Lakshmikanthan overcome this obstacle?

What worked for me

The acting skill of the leads, protagonist and antagonist hooked me up to watch it, though honestly, I couldn’t sit through the entire film. The concept was good but not the execution. KS Ravikumar has shown the right amount of emotions that was needed to push Mathil forward and Mime Gopi has done a good job as well, but the rest of the characters seem to overburden the film.

What didn’t work for me

Now, let me make it very clear that although the movie may seem very predictable (which it is), the director has put in a lot of efforts. Inspite of the dedication and the perseverance of the actors, Mathil feels disconnected. The film has its punch lines, but it won’t tickle you to laugh. The characters aren’t portrayed and appropriately developed; it felt a bit scattered. Even a 1t hour and 50 minutes, the director couldn’t wrap up the film. The direction could have been better.

If you love watching South Indian dramas, this one for you. But be wary that it might just disappoint you.

Mathil is currently streaming on Zee5.

If you liked the Mathil review, read our other reviews here.