Senapathi(Kamalhassan) is an old man who targets corrupt government officials and kills them. He was a freedom fighter who is now disillusioned about the corruption prevalent in society and is waging a one-man war against it. At the other end of the spectrum is Chandru(Kamalhassan), who makes a living out of corruption. He is a 'broker' outside the RTO and makes things easier for the harried public when they grease his palms. Once he becomes the brake inspector, Chandru's corruption leads to the horrific death of several children and inspite of the bond between them, he becomes Senapathi's final target.

Shankar decisively proves that he is second to none when it comes to delivering a socially relevant message through a highly entertaining movie. The amount of corruption at each level in government offices is captured well through incidents at the RTO and the treasury. At the RTO, Kamal and Koundamani manage to corruption through comedy while Manorama's plight at the treasury is sad and brutal. Kamalhassan's monologue on television, with 'Nizhalgal' Ravi bound and gagged beside him, is superb and his comments about the state of corruption in India ("in other countries, officers are bribed to do something beyond their duty while here they need to be bribed just to do their duty") has us nodding our heads in understanding. The positive effect of his crusade on the public is also shown in a very satisfying(and even funny) manner.

The two flashbacks for Senapathi, which are diametrically opposite in scope, are handled in a superlative fashion by Shankar. The pre-independence sequence is picturised on a grand scale in black and white with special effects unobtrusively enabling Kamalhassan to appear in the same frame as Netaji Subash Chandra Bose. The patriotic fervor of the few participants is well illustrated inspite of the short sequence and the disrobing of the women and their end is tragic. The Kappaleri Poyaachu... song sequence with the thousands of extras is a grand close-out to the sequence with a nice finishing touch provided by Kamalhassan and Sukanya appearing in a variety of costumes from different parts of the country. The later flashback with Kasturi is more personal and brings out the father-daughter affection well. Though a father's sticking to principles when his daughter is dying is debatable, it gives a strong reason for Kamal's war against corruption.

The romance between Kamal and Manisha is very sweet and Urmila's frequent taunting of her results in both of them being at their cutest. Manisha's anger when Urmila falls at Sukanya's feet and her request to Sukanya to ask Kamal to kill Urmila's family since they were corrupt, are very funny. The comedy is funny at several places but it is also crude and definitely lowers the class of the film. The only other jarring note in an otherwise perfect film is the fight sequence between Kamal and Ponnambalam. The overuse of graphics makes the shots look silly and wastes the rather unique location of the racetrack for a fight sequence.

Nedumudi Venu provides a certain dignity to his role and several of his deductions are logical, lending a sense of seriousness to his chase of Kamalhassan. His techniques for figuring out that the killer is an old man are especially ingenious and the handwriting analysis shows that Shankar has done his homework. Venu's dogged chase is very interesting and his character is raised another notch with the way he handles Kamalhassan after he has been arrested. The climax is picturised well and the movie ends on a very nice way.

Kamalhassan is almost unrecognisable under the realistic makeup and transforms himself into an old man with his voice, walk and gestures. He also displays a certain style when he murders the treasury officer and during the fight with Venu that is enjoyable. It was a thoroughly deserved third National acting award for the versatile actor. The second role is more routine though his acts towards the end make him quite a detestable villain. Manisha and Urmila both look pretty and provide romantic support. Sukanya does well in the flashback though the makeup for her older version doesn't suit her as well as it does Kamal and looks rather awkward.

Rahman again proves that he comes up with his best tunes for Shankar with a variety of songs that suit the occasion. Shankar spares no expense for the picturisation and the sequences are a treat for the eyes and ears. Akkadaannu Naanga... features some eyecatching costumes while Telephone Manipol... takes us to Australia. Both songs feature models as the group dancers. Pachai Kiligal... is soft and melodious and picturised well on Kamal's family. Maaya Machindra... uses graphics to change Kamal into a variety of beasts as he infiltrates security to meet Manisha.