Miruthan

With the onset of new genres in Tamizh cinema, we have Sakthi Soundar Rajan's first ever zombie movie - Miruthan. Jayam Ravi's varied choice of scripts, with his last five falling under five different genres makes him the unanimously celebrated hero in the recent times. How does Miruthan live up to the expectations from the theatre going crowd?

Miruthan is about a traffic cop escorting a group of medics after zombies take control of an entire city. Jayam Ravi (as Karthik) lives with his sister (Baby Anikha) in Ooty and the city turns into a zombie-land overnight. A group of medics, Lakshmi Menon and co., after attending a medical conference, find themselves in the mid of the catastrophe. Is there a respite in the offing?

Jayam Ravi opens his account for 2016 with a perfect performance. There are a few screen-presence moments and he enjoys the screams and whistles at regular intervals. He seems to be unstoppable after Thani Oruvan. Kaali Venkat's timing and the innocence he bears while delivering the comical scenes is entertaining and there is not even a single comedy that doesn't work. Sriman shares a lot of lighter moments right from his intro. 

With a genre that is not tried and tested with the Tamizh audience, one has to compromise. There is a sister sentiment, there is romance, there is friendship and there is heroism - all the ingredients for a commercial cinema, yet the film engages the audience throughout. Imaan's songs are appealing and the background score - one of his best. The "Horrifying Zombies" theme lingers in your ears even after you leave the cinema hall - a top-class BGM from Imaan after a long time. There are zombies creeping into the lens now and then, but there is not even a single frame that turns disgusting. The effort of the technicians behind the scenes is definitely laudable for delivering a zombie movie with authenticity in a short span. 

After Naanayam and Naaigal Jaakirathai, Shakthi Soundar Rajan has delivered his third genre in three movies. He has managed to create a zombie movie interwoven with the much needed commercial elements. There are few scenes which go overboard in action and sentiment, which could have been avoided. The director's idea of amalgamating "Mirugam" and "Manithan" for "Miruthan" deserves a special mention as he conveys the theme in just one word. With the film running lesser than two hours, we have the screenplay fast enough and Miruthan crosses the boundary line with comfortable ease. 

Bottomline - For those who rave about Hollywood zombie movies, we have Tamizh Cinema's first ever zombie movie finished in 54 days with a shoestring budget. Kudos to the entire team!