Mersal

'Atlee' has become a dependable brand with just 2 films 'Raja Rani' and 'Theri',both which were efficiently packed masala entertainers that managed to gain humongous success at the Kollywood box- office.Naturally,the expectations were sky-high from the combo of Vijay and Atlee who were expected to repeat the success of Theri,which I felt was to some extent a slightly better movie altogether on comparison with this much more predictable mass masala entertainer.

An elaborate affair running around 170 minutes,Mersal has all the ingredients that one conjoins with a festival entertainer,heavily relying upon the charisma of Vijay who ensures that the loopholes in the screenplay is overshadowed by his massive screen presence up to a good extent.K.Vijayendra Prasad who's known for his epic mass entertainers like 'Baahubali','Bajrangi Bhaijaan' and 'Samarasimha Reddy' has stick on to the basic formulas of a typical masala flick,the result being an average to above average cinematic experience in a nutshell.

Atlee's pattern of narrative reminded me of his mentor Shankar's 2006 blockbuster 'Shivaji',revamped with plot elements similar to A.R Murugadoss's Vijayakanth starrer 'Ramana'[2002] and a conclusion upon the lines of yet another Murugadoss flick Katthi [2014].The introductory portions of the movie was impressive followed by a slightly weaker 45-50 minutes which luckily ended with a thrilling interval block.The second half holds the flashback portion of 'Thalapathy' which is highly emotional and has moments to connect with the native audience in particular.

The fact that the easily predictable narrative could have been trimmed by at least 15-20 minutes cannot be blanked out and hadn't there been a solid performance by Thalapathy Vijay as the saving grace,the movie could have been rather a mediocre experience altogether.The plethora of hard-hitting punch dialogues added with a good social message towards the end was effective in increasing the emotional connect of the movie.

As mentioned before Vijay was at his awesome best throughout the movie and succeeded in portraying the roles entrusted on him with required perfection.The pick among the female cast was Nithya Menon who shined with an energetic performance.Samantha and Kajal Agarwal didn't have much role to play except for being part in two songs that didn't make any impact in the narrative whatsoever.'Vaigai Puyal' Vadivelu gave an impressive supporting performance .S J Surya's villain role was too stereotypical and lacked necessary detailing.

Songs by maestro A.R.R ranged from mediocre to good with the pick among the songs being 'Aalaporaan Tamizhan' and 'Nee Thaane' that were picturized well by Atlee.The background score of the movie wasn't exceptional but nonetheless decent.Frames by debutante G K Vishnu were catchy and edits by Ruben was fine in general.

Overall,Mersal is a satisfactory festive flick that ensures a paisa vasool one time watch for those who have a taste for masala entertainers.

I went to this film after a colleague recommended it. I'll be frank I wasn't fond of the really random dance sequences (as an American they're a bit too random for me, though Mr. Vijay can dance really well) but the film got those out of the way early. I was told a couple things about this film before going in- it is a huge "mass masala" so it fuses many different genres together. And that the actor, Vijay, is an enormous superstar in the Tamil state who the people really adore. As soon as the film started, the audience whistled and cheered at just his name appearing on the screen! And then when he first appears in the film, the audience was overjoyed and so many cheers, I've never been among a crowd like that. It's crazy I hadn't seen a film by Vijay yet but I got chills seeing how much the audience loved him. And throughout the film, it was too easy to see why: spectacular performances as 3 different people, and he nailed them all. Especially the village role, was a terrific and moving performance, he has a huge screen presence and powerful flair about him. I've noticed that the Indian superstars are really a class apart in this, I can see these select few are at that level due to these certain intangibles that have won over the audience, its an trait I don't see in even the biggest of Hollywood actors. Anyway about the actual film's story, the beginning had more comedic elements, I didn't understand some of the jokes, but that's okay because there is tons more to this film. I felt the first female character was completely unnecessary and the second one was acceptable but also not needed. The third actress, however, was GREAT! Nithya Mennon is her name, she and Vijay in the second half brought tears to my eyes repeatedly, I didn't expect to be so moved! I had similar reactions to some really heart-wrenching scenes in the first half as well, the film had lots of emotional power at its core. The film was unique to me in that Vijay's characters stood up so strongly against corruption, malpractices and deception by the medical industry, especially against the poor people- the people who need it the most but end up also losing the most in these scenarios. A new subject for me, handled so well. I'm not aware of what the medical policies for patients in India are like, do people always pay before the treatment or is that just certain types of hospitals? Some questions I would just ask my colleagues on Monday. Another thing was when Vijay's characters said certain dialogues, the crowd cheered and clapped a lot, especially during his speech scenes where he criticizes many injustices in front of large crowds in the film. Not only did the crowd in the film cheer strongly, so did my audience! It was as if I was in the film. And the action!! It was tremendous, lots of intense fight scenes with nice use of wire-work. Every hit by Mr. Vijay felt powerful with lots of emotions to it: these aren't your normal "beat up the bad guys because they're against you" fight scenes but rather they felt like a man who has had to go through so much emotional pain that every punch and kick roared of justice. And wow was the crowd happy and loud during these fights! Wonderful experience really, I laughed, cried and was also really fired up during the film. I'm interested to watch more of Vijay's films now and I will definitely anticipate when his next film releases.

I went in for the USA Premiere Show (FDFS) For The Much-Awaited Action Entertainer MERSAL. Oh god, the crowd was unbelievable! Everyone was set for a Diwali Treat:)

Firstly, the screen presence of THALAPATHY VIJAY, was absolutely amazing, for sure Vijay steals the show right from the title-card to the ending of the movie.

His Triple Role : Farmer, Doctor, Magician were all new get ups for Vijay and has he done well with these characters? 100% YES! Right From The "Mersal Arasan" To The Flashback Sequences Of The Leader Farmer, Thalapathy excels!

As Usual, he excels in his romance, dance, comedy and attitudes throughout the film which keep the audience entertained in each way.

The Story by Baahubali Writer "Vijayendra Prasad" was quite different even though it had some elements of an action Marsala film but Atlee's direction of the film keep it unique.

AR Rahman's BGM is merattal masss! He proves his Oscar winning award in Mersal, songs such as Aalaporaan Thamizhan and Neethanae bring out the audience a real taste of Mersal!

SJ Surya as a villain plays his role neatly (look out for his dialogues/scenes in the second half) a perfect suit for the movie - Stylish.

Also, actors such as Vadivelu and Sathyaraj stand out not just for their comedy but for their highly rated emotional scenes which Atlee narrates well. Vadivelu fanatics will leave the cinema with smiles on their faces:)

Heroines play their role superbly in each of Vijays Characters and so do other actors such as Sathyan, Kovai Sarala, Vikram Vedha's "Cheta" etc.

GK Vishnu has fantastic cinematography for a debut, thanks to Atlee for giving him an opportunity to see how perfectly he can do his job! Visuals in Aalaporaan Thamizhan and Many of the magician scenes excel, thalapathy is captured spot on!

Ruben the editor has done his job well, with neat cuts and editing to keep the movie at a smooth pace.

What can I say, a pure Thalapathy Vijay entertainer with high emotional/ mass scenes which will impress the audience of all type. A film for thamizhans to enjoy, so worth the wait? TOTALLY YES, go grab your tickets and have a great Diwali ahead!

9/10

Just masss . Vijay proves everytime why he is the top star of TN.

Have to say that, this is possibly one of the greatest Vijay's movie, I have ever watched. Great performance by Vijay! I love the Magic he creates and his new Murrukku Meesai. Atlee never fails to entertain, whether it is Theri or Mersal. He is the next Shankar. G.K.Vishnu cinematography is top standard. Can't believe it's his 1st movie! Music and BGM were awesome. Love the experimentation which A.R.Rahman created. Nithya Menon and S.J.Suryah gave solid performance. Vadivelu comedy made us laugh and was great to see the Vijay-Vadivelu combo. Samantha, Kajal and Sathyaraj had small roles but were quite important in parts. Ruben gives perfect editing cuts. I appreciate the whole team for the excellent effort they have put in. Overall, a well crafted entertaining movie by Atlee which is boosted by Vijay's screen presence.