Maan Karate (2014)

**REVIEW FROM BEHINDWOODS:**

After notching up back to back successes as the endearing and funny ‘boy next door’, Siva Karthikeyan is back with Maan Karate in a role which is akin to his previous ones but with more scope for action this time around.

Siva plays Peter, a playful chap with very little worldly exposure and with nothing on his mind except his girlfriend Yazhini. He poses as a boxer to woo her, as she is an ardent fan of sports. But destiny has bigger plans for him and makes him register for a boxing tourney.

Maan Karate combines elements like fantasy and the regular brand of commercial entertainment in true Siva Karthikeyan style. We also have the sporting angle with Siva being the quintessential underdog taking on a mighty champion. The film does provide quite a lot of fun in the first half with Siva Karthikeyan’s typical antics, his mimicry attempts and his rollicking dance moves in the colorfully shot song sequences. The young man looks handsome in neatly fitting, trendy costumes and accessories, and looks the part as a dashing lead hero. The way he has improved his dance moves is unbelievable and there is an evident and effortless grace in his moves now. All the songs are lifted by Siva’s energetic presence. And like a typical mass hero number, we have Siva and the song’s choreographer dancing together to a signature move, in the ‘Royapuram Peter’ track.

Hansika is pretty and cherubic as ever and looks gorgeous in the song and dance sequences. Other than that, she gets to be a loyal, unsuspecting and supporting girlfriend who stands by her guy.

Soori plays a pretty hyper, easily excitable boxing referee and will please his hardcore fans in the limited time he has. The chemistry between Siva and Soori is evident in these scenes and they do bring about a few laughs. Sathish has a few one-liners to make a mark and effortlessly does so.

The other actors such as Vamsi as the domineering boxer and Shaji as Siva’s coach play out their roles in the required manner.

Technically, Maan Karate is a superior product with the grand boxing arena and the massive scale in the final fight, catching the eye. The songs are a delight to watch thanks to Sukumar’s lighting, the glossy visual treatment and the lead pair’s attractive costumes. ‘Maanja’ and ‘Un Vizhigalil’ are the best of the lot but the movie is let down by the placement of these songs as you can preempt exactly when all the songs are going to arrive.

Sukumar’s work is also really brilliant in the movie’s initial few minutes as he transports us right into the proceedings on screen.

Now coming to the biggest highlight of the movie, Anirudh and his spellbinding work on the BGM score. The final boxing tussle is elevated several notches by Anirudh’s quirky and groovy electronic score. The little training montage is another sequence where Anirudh rules with his orchestration in the background. You have many more scenes which have Anirudh’s lovely tracks in the background. Each of his songs is welcomed with the whistles and hoots of fans. Maan Karate is another step in the right direction for this talented young musician.

All things said, we aren’t able to root wholeheartedly for the underdog in the final boxing tussle, and we don’t make an emotional connect with him. The unconvincing way in which the boxing tournament is staged in the movie, may be a reason. Even with a funny title like ‘Maan Karate’ (meaning pulling off an escape act), when you are making a movie with sports as a key element, a certain amount of seriousness is required in the way the sport is approached and treated on screen. The movie also becomes overtly dramatic towards the end and this reduces the final impact.

On the whole, the movie is definitely watchable, with some amount of suspension of disbelief, for the many segments of entertainment that it offers.

**Verdict: Siva Karthikeyan's entertainer to beat the summer heat**

**Rating: 2.75/5**

Maan Karate is nothing but a showcase for Sivakarthikeyan. It is an acknowledgement that the former TV personality is today a bonafide star. And, so, the film comes with all the trappings of a star film — an A-list heroine, a happening music director, no-expenses-spared production budget, introduction song and not to mention, the hype. And, the actor, to his credit manages to carry this film on his shoulders like a pro. He looks slick (even though his character is from Royapuram), makes us laugh with his one-liners and mannerisms, dances very well and even attempts some heavy-duty histrionics.

Which is why it is sad to see his efforts getting wasted in a film that dispenses with any form of logic, and wants us to take it as it is, no questions asked. The story, by director AR Murugadoss, is a mix of fantasy and romance, but Thirukumaran's script is underdeveloped. The film begins with five friends (Sathish and co) meeting a mystic in the forest, who grants their wish — a newspaper from the future! When things start happening as reported in the paper (the IT company in which they work shuts down, hailstones fall in Chennai), they decide that they could use their knowledge of the future to their advantage, and get rich with hardly any effort.

So, they woo Royapuram Peter, a happy-go-lucky (read wastrel) youngster, who is supposed to win a boxing tournament. Their plan is to make Peter take part in the tournament and collect his prize money by making him sign an agreement. Incidentally, Peter falls in love with Yazhini (mainly because she has fair skin, FYI), who loves sports. So, to impress her, he accepts their terms and uses them to pep up his lifestyle. These segments play out in a lighthearted fashion, something that even Ethir Neechal did.

And then the interval twist arrives — there is another Peter, who is taking part in the tournament, who is a feared boxer and is an odds-on favourite (even their father's names are the same!) This seems like an interesting, but you realize that it is also a flaky one when the second half plays out. While we get the initial confusion of the friends who wonder if they have chosen the wrong Peter, it is hard to believe that a news report would fail to mention the juicy details of the final game, especially given the interest the final generates —one of the opponents has sworn to give the audiences live murder in the ring and the other is an overwhelming fan favourite with a unique style that has become his sobriquet — 'Maan Karate' Peter.

Even the romantic track doesn't have any odds stacked against it. Yazhini's dad wants to marry her off only to someone who can recite Thirukkural and that problem is solved in a couple of scenes. Yazhini's love for sports is what prompts Peter to accept the offer to take part in the tournament but towards the end, even she tells that she wouldn't mind if Peter loses.

The boxing portions too are under whelming, both in terms of staging and drama. There is no real sense of a contest in any of the fights, including the final; we can at least accept that 'Maan Karate' Peter's fights are just farcical, but shouldn't there have been a show of real challenge in the ones involving Peter The Killer? A sports movie should have a rousing climax but here, the end just feels tame.

Given that the basic premise of the film itself is weak, and there is generally an 'anything goes' approach to the script, we feel that beneath all the gloss, there is nothing but emptiness.