'Maattrraan' brings together Suriya and KV Anand once again after the success of their first film together, 'Ayan' and has managed to get a personality for the title even before the release. For the first time in Tamil cinema, the hero is not just portrayed in a double role, but as conjoint twins who are inseparable from each other physically. It is an interesting attempt to make a unique form of cinema. As always, there's good news and there's bad news.
Director KV Anand has given us 'Maattrraan' in two parts, the one we get to see in the first half and the rest that follows. As the film starts off, the team's effort in making two Suriya appear together pays off and you don't feel like the shot has been made twice for each character. The dialogues are catchy many a times and do a good job differentiating the twins. The 'Theeye Theeye..' song and the fight sequence towards the end of the first half signify the tremendous effort taken in making things enjoyable throughout the first half.
Suriya has always been a solid actor for a while and he proves himself again with not one, but two roles in 'Maattrraan'. His efforts in making both his characters very different make things very interesting. Both the characters of Vimal and Akilan have totally different speech slang, dialogues, body language and features and to play their roles alternatively scene after scene would have been very hard work indeed. His performance in the emotional scenes connects with the audience on a large scale, even as the movie is filled with action. But Suriya makes it look very natural and outgoing and deserves a lot of plaudits.
Kajal Aggarwal and Sachin Khedekar mostly cover the rest of the sequences of the film, and both take a step back and let Suriya do his thing. They both continue to be a part of the plot up until the end of the movie and the director makes sure they aren't part of a puzzle that don't fit. Maybe a bit more detailing on their background would have made things better.
'Maattrraan' gets a lot of help from the Srinivasa Murthy's VFX department and the way everything looks natural in the first half, even when two Suriya are standing next to each other throughout is a tribute to their work. Soundar Rajan's cinematography works in tandem with the effects and impresses.
Meanwhile, editor Anthony gets the toughest job of editing the film that is filled with added effects and touches and despite everything, he joins bits and pieces pretty well.
The action sequences shot at MGM in particular deserve a huge mention, as the twins wriggle and fight together giving you a lot of reasons to hold your breath. Peter does a really good job of coordinating twin fighters, and tones down the fighting to a level that's believable and also exciting.
Harris Jayaraj's songs from the movie have already become popular before the release and will only get more momentum with time. The 'Naani Koni song in particular looks gorgeous on the big screen thanks to the exotic locations chosen by KV Anand. His background score in the first half, including 'Rettai Kadhire..' which gives the intro to the film are nice touches to the demands of the audience.
As much as the first half of the movie raises your expectations, the latter lacks enough suspense to make the audience get excited. The end of the first half reveals most of the aspects of the movie and once you have caught on to what's going on, the climax just seems inevitable. A few logical flaws here and there appear more prominent than one would like, and changes the impression got by the viewers in the better parts of the film. Summing it up, 'Maatrraan' is worth a watch for Suriya's acting and some great groundwork done by KV Anand.
Harris Jeyaraj's songs look great on screen and are sure to be seen on TV frequently. The second half does a shabby job of wrapping things up, but it still gives you an unique experience overall.
Rating: 3.5/5
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