First and foremost kudos to KV Anand for taking on such a serious and sensitive subject and altering it with his trademark touches.

A little deviation would have given it a boring documentary feel. I found both Anegan and Maatran underwhelming for both the films started to stretch on and on to the point of desperation. But here you don’t feel the stretch because of an interesting ensemble of actors who are very sure of their space in the larger narrative.

The first half screams Vijay Sethupathi and the actor ups the ante gloriously especially towards the last few minutes of the fast half. For an actor who has made a career playing second fiddle, this is an interesting shift. The hideous wig is an unnecessary distraction and could have been avoided. The in your face digs at media houses and reality shows are applause-worthy.

The second half turns into a one on one between good and bad with a line up of trademark KV Anand twists one after the other. To KV’s credit, he gives each of the cast members their moment of glory at different points in the story.

The only sour part is the antagonist who looks too phony and comical to be considered a serious opponent. His lip sync issues are a little too obvious to go unnoticed.

It felt good to see TR back as an actor and he fits the role to perfection. But what was the need to turn him into a mimicry artist when he can rock in his own voice.

Pandiarajan – Talk about using a person’s physical attributes to denote a change in personality. Those innocent eyes and short frame come in handy when the innocent lamb turns into a sly fox and takes charge of the proceedings. Madonna Sebastian has dubbed in her own voice and emotes well. The rest of the cast take turns to leave their mark.

Hip Hop Tamizha is in auto tune mode as always but the Bharatiyar re-mix does leave a mark. K V Anand makes use of interesting bits and pieces and converts them into an interesting whole within a crowd-pleasing template and it works big time.

Go for it.Definitely one of the better Commercial Tamil Films of the year so far.