Like Vijay, Sarathkumar too seems to have settled down into doing formulaic, masala films
barely distinguishable from one another. Chanakya is another addition to the list. Nowadays
the term 'Sarathkumar starrer' points to a particular kind of movie and Chanakya doesn't
deviate from the formula. It is dumb and has stunts, cheap comedy and glamorous song sequences.
The irony is that a movie named after a man known for his brains requires its viewers to be brainless
to accept what is being dished out!
Ganesan(Sarathkumar) is a popular autodriver and Dheivanayagi(Namitha), the daughter of the owner
of his auto, is in love with him. Ganesan is a publicity hound who even goes to the extent of owning
up to a murder he didn't commit in order to get his name in the papers. But when he murders a
minister(Hanifa), we understand that his quest for publicity is actually part of his plan to
extract revenge on the three people who destroyed his family.
Chanakya is admittedly built on an intriguing concept. Criminals usually try to be as
low-profile as possible in order to escape the law. But Sarathkumar here tries hard to be
high-profile and in the public eye and ends up using that to evade the law. But as always,
its the execution of the concept that disappoints. His plan is amateurish and the behavior of
the people around him (both the police and public) is unrealistic and silly. In order to make
Sarathkumar appear clever, everyone around him is either a fool or a clown. So his grand schemes
seem unnecessary in the end.
But probably because of the film's overall dumbness, there are a few moments that surprise us.
A seemingly unconnected kidnapping threat, that is all but forgotten by the time the climax
starts, is shown to be part of the plan. The way the kidnapping of Sarath's friends, which I
thought would lead to a fight sequence, is thwarted is also a nice touch.
The best part of the film is its climax, inspite of the fact that it is a straight lift from
Phone Booth. Sarath's strategy is good and there are a couple of neat tricks and clever
moments as he teases the villain. But the director still has to rely on the dumbness of the villain
as he, for no reason other than to make Sarath's job easier, spells out in detail all the crimes
he has committed.
Sarathkumar essentially plays the same role he has been playing the last few movies. He gets a
double role too but thankfully the second role is not gray-haired or bearded! Namitha looks huge.
We've had flabby actresses before(Kiran comes to mind) but Namitha is built like a wrestler and
her body seems to always be a second away from bursting out of her clothes. Laya definitely looks
cuter than her. Vadivelu gets a few laughs from his track but is not consistently funny. Hanifa,
Salim Ghouse and a new face are the villains and add nothing new.
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