Madha Gaja Raja Review – A Fun Time-Pass Family Entertainer!
Madha Gaja Raja Review – A Fun Time-Pass Family Entertainer!
Madha Gaja Raja is an action comedy venture starring Vishal, Santhanam, Anjali and Varalakshmi Sarathkumar in the lead roles. The film is directed by Sundar.C and the music is composed by Vijay Antony.
Premise: Vishal, Santhanam, Nithin Sathya and Sadagopan Ramesh are school friends. Except the hero, the other men are facing problems professionally and in their personal lives. How Vishal solves their issues form the remaining story.
Writing/ Direction: There are multiple characters in the film with separate plot points, they are tied together neatly over the progression. The stories might be thin and familiar, yet the step by step flow organically form the coherency to move on to the big stage near to the interval. Comedies are firecrackers that are sure to blast as laughter during the community viewing. While the jokes in the first half mostly work as one-liners and the ones in the latter click terrifically as entire sequences. An entire track that showcases the school gang wars could have been avoided, mainly because of how lame the situation is and the over dramatic treatment it gets for a closure. Entertaining with a 12-Year old film is an achievement of its own, but there are definitely certain elements that feel outdated, the whole double-heroine angle for that matter, filled with cheesy moments and the excessive glamour appeal is bothersome to witness given the maturity of the audience these days. The film doesn’t take itself too seriously, it lands as an advantage here as we are able to experience the sarcastic hero-villain cat and mouse game which Tamil cinema has missed out to explore in the recent past. There are a few dry patches here and there, some silly jokes exist too, but the film never gets into this boring space, there are elements to engage the viewers throughout. The frequently appearing dialogue humour takes over the initial hour and there are stretches towards the end that goes into this laugh-riot mode.
Performances: Vishal looks super fit and more like a next door boy, nothing of his sort lately. Santhanam has single-handedly saved the film till halfway like the good old days, after which he has tagged along with the other artists to hit it outside the park. Manobala offers rib-tickling fun in the final act, proving how skilled he is, the witty situation has also given him the scope to showcase. Motta Rajendran’s presence was a delight to watch too. Plenty of other comical artists have contributed their share to the humour quotient as well. Lame roles for Anjali and Varalakshmi Sarathkumar just for the sake of heroines, they both just shine on-screen as glam dolls with no purpose to serve. Sonu Sood in a routine villain role who is knocked-out at the end without putting up a tough fight. Arya appears for a fun cameo role with a small purpose and Sadha’s item number is relentlessly placed.
Technicalities: Vijay Antony’s songs are crowd pleasing, especially the ‘My Dear Lover’ track is a vibe material. Background score is very apt for the situations, the sounding is still fresh and thankfully doesn’t tend to be loud. Cinematographer has provided what is required for a template commercial movie. Notorious editing that feels very odd for the day, it is not because the transition cuts are old-school, the major drawback is with the usage of some needless effects that exaggerate the simplicity, boasting the bare body frames of the hero in the climax made it a big joke. Stunt sequences are a mixed bag, Vishal is one among the stars who can present fights believably on-screen, his grounded actions look powerfully realistic, but the unwanted rope shots and flipping in the air stuff spoils his efforts.
Verdict: Madcap ride in which the humour clicks big time. Despite the regular storyline, dummy villain and absurd heroine roles, the film comfortably manages to engage by delivering a truckload of clap-worthy comedy segments.
MADHA GAJA RAJA – A Fun Time-Pass Family Entertainer!
Rating – 3/ 5.
