Massu Engira Maasilamani (2015)

As his previous five films have shown us, a Venkat Prabhu film cannot exist without certain must-haves. For starters, his brother Premgi Amaren will be the film's designated comedian. There will be cameos by the Venkat Prabhu company of actors (here, we get Jai, Vijay Vasanth, Aravind Akash, Subbu Panchu to name a few). There will be twists galore in the plot. There will be endless pop culture references (this one invokes Engaeyum Eppothum, Mankatha, 7aum Arivu, Kaththi, Singam 2, Pammal K Sammandham, Pizza, Vaaranam Aayiram, Naan Kadavul, Raja Rani, actor Vishal's fight against movie piracy, the catchphrase Ennamma Ippadi Pannreengalema and many more). The heroines will be strictly functional (Nayanthara's role here is more a cameo). The focus will be more on entertaining even if means sacrificing some of the seriousness in a scene. And most importantly, there will be a subtle subversion of genre — Massu Engira Maasilamani (MEM) has ghosts but it is not a horror film but rather a revenge saga in the traditional 'mass' film mould. Some of these might come across as forced but there is no denying that they have become the director's signature. So, when we step into a Venkat Prabhu film, by now, we sort-of know what to expect. The fun lies in finding out how the director packages all these elements to surprise and entertain us. MEM shows that the director's flair for delivering an unpretentious and undemanding film is still intact, even if a slight amount of predictability has crept into the filmmaking. Venkat Prabhu makes his intentions quite clear right at the start when he introduces his hero, Mass. It feels like a typical hero's introduction scene with Mass taking on a few hoodlums who are stealing from a TASMAC shop on Gandhi Jayanthi. He fights them off and then we are told that the entire thing was staged. And even as we get the mandatory hero introduction song, the director uses it to introduce the heroine, Manini, as well and in swift strokes shows us that Mass has fallen in love with her. The plot kicks in when Mass and his friend, Jet Li steal from a local gangster to help Manini, but are involved in an accident while trying to escape the gangster's henchmen. Mass is admitted in a hospital and when he wakes up, he learns that he can see and talk to ghosts. He strikes a deal with this bunch of ghosts — they want him to fulfill their last wishes and he wants them to help him use this 'gift' and make money. But then he encounters a new ghost, Sakthi, who is his look-alike. Playing on his greed, Sakthi soon starts using Mass for his own needs. What happens when Mass realizes this and who is Sakthi? What makes MEM different from previous Venkat Prabhu films is that the second half becomes a bit sentimental and that is both good and bad. There are moments when the sentimental bit works very well. For example, the scene in which Mass learns of one of the ghost's cause of death and the moving song during which he satisfies the last wishes of some of the ghosts. But things turn somewhat melodramatic during the moment in which Mass finally learns who Sakthi is (though the revelation is a genuine surprise). And the backstory for Sakthi is also cliched and takes too much screen time. In contrast, the director gives us the backstory of Mass and his relationship with Jet Li in a matter of minutes without resorting to melodrama. The villains are quite generic but Venkat makes up for it with the character of Vikram, a cop, who is neither good nor bad. It also helps that Vikram is played by Parthepan who brings his own quirks to the role — in one scene, he romves the shades of a character who he is arresting and remarks in typical Parthepan-speak, "Enna kalutunanu yaarum ketrakoodadhu illa?' The songs are plain indulgences (the Thriller-like Poochandi is visually interesting but brings the story to a halt) and the pacing dips a little during the second half despite some nifty editing (KL Praveen), and even the director acknowledges this by making Jet Li remark that Mass has slowed down. The film lacks the raciness of Biriyani or Mankatha, but there is enough inventivesness and joie de vivre to the scenes to keep us entertained.