#Madharaasi Review

#Madharaasi

2025- Tamil

Starring : Sivakarthikeyan, Vidyut Jamwal, Rukmini Vasanth , Shabeer , Biju Menon and Vikranth

Directed by A.R.Murugadoss

Plot : Raghu, a simple man struggling with delusional disorder, is unexpectedly drawn into an NIA mission to stop a North Indian gang led by Virat and Chirag, who are determined to smuggle guns into Tamil Nadu and spread a violent gun culture. In the chaos, Raghu’s girlfriend Malathi gets pulled into the conflict, and his medication is suddenly cut off. What follows is the story of how Raghu, pushed to the edge and consumed by rage, rises against the cartel to save both the woman he loves and the state he calls home.

Performance wise , SK as Raghu has done a good job. The Character is a bit complicated and going beyond a line would've made the character look like a mentally sick person but SK maintained the arc well. But the real show stealer is Vidyut Jamwal as Virat. He got the looks and swag of a Gangster. Though his character is written poorly and screen space is less, Vidyut literally lights up the screen and audience celebrate him whenever he arrives on screen. Rukmini Vasanth as Malathi gets a very meaty role and has done a really good job. Kudos to the proper lip synch. Biju Menon is terrific as NIA head and has done a fantastic job. Shabeer as Secondary Antagonist Chirag is a bit underwritten but has done a good performance. Vikranth limited scope decent performance. Siddharth Shankar has done a small role as an Undercover police officer and has done a pretty good job too.

Technically the film is pretty strong. Thanks to a wonderful Cinematography by Sudeep Elamon. The way he has captured live locations are beautiful and is a treat to watch on screen. Next up Editing by Sreekar Prasad's Editing looked choppy in the beginning but as the film progressed, it became much racier and sharper. Anirudh's Songs are good but more than that the BGMs given for each character is terrific and elevates each and every characters intro.

The film begins with a tense setup: the NIA has learned that six truckloads of illegal guns are on their way to Chennai, part of a gang’s plan to push Tamil Nadu into a new age of violence. The First Few Mins are terrific in terms of staging and execution with how Biju Menon and his team intercept the convoy. Vidyut Jamwal's Introduction there is terrific. And then the film shifts to the story of Raghu played by SK. The Intial love portions between Raghu and Malathi felt good but felt too stretched beyond a point. The Explanation of Raghu's Psychological condition was good but unfortunately that is cut abruptly. What could've been a trademark character trait is pushed to the back. The Setup of how Raghu a common man comes inside of this NIA mission is good but some scenes are treated with humour scenes which sometimes bog down the seriousness of the situation. The reason for break-up between Raghu and Malathi feels potent but the way it was treated felt abrupt. The Factory sequence was good and held up the interest but again a pinch of humour to the proceedings made it funny rather than being serious. While the Interval twist and Block was terrific, the sudden tonal shift from Humour to serious felt abrupt.

Coming to the Second Half , the film falters. Raghu's Psychological condition is left abruptly. The Second half largely happens within a timeframe of 2-3 days or so but the proceedings are paced in a slow manner. The transformation of Raghu was terrific but again it doesn't feel organic. Malathi coming inside the plot was important and really lover the fact how ARM binded her character literally with Raghu's character arc. The NIA Headquarters Stunt sequence was just amazing with real time blasts and a terrific stunt choreography starring Vikranth. The Last 40 mins are absolute madness with peak adrenaline stuff . What really surprised me was SK being able to pull of a character with such intensity. The Climax fight was a bit dragged but the intensity was terrific. Out of the whole second half, there is a sequence where Virat does a jailbreak and man oh man , Vidyut absolutely nailed it. That scene would've become a troll material if someone else would've done it but Vidyut just nailed it.

Talking about the Negatives, the film suffers from Inconsistent writing.For Example: In the initial portions they say a character is suffering from a Psychological condition where he sees all those in Problem as his relatives but that is abruptly dropped in the Second half and they start this new condition called Animal Instinct which felt sudden. While the idea was cool , the implementation of that sequence felt rushed . Also the film's constant undercurrent of Humour touch with the Protagonist really sometimes disconnected the seriousness of the film. While Vidyut as Virat gave a terrific performance, his character was very poorly written with no proper explanation of who he is . Just a Line saying "4 States Police are searching for him" and nothing else. Also the Introduction of the Syndicate was cool but again that is also not explored properly. Also the film feels very lengthy especially in the Second half where the film gets stuck at one place and doesn't move much from there untill a latter point.

Coming to Writer Director A.R.Murugadoss , after back to back duds such as Darbar and Sikandar , ARM has tried to level up and come back to his prime time and we have to say partially he has succeeded in that. The writing and direction is not upto his cult films such as Thuppaki, Kaththi , Ramana or Ghajini level but is sure much much better than Sikandar or Darbar. Though there was no standout scenes or intelligent scenes, the core plot and setup itself was intriguing. Also though the film dealt with Humanity and how we as a Society have become numb to certain things , thankfully the Hero doesn't look at the camera at the climax and give a monologue advising the audience which itself felt refreshing. A Pretty Good A.R.Murugadoss film that needed better and tighter screenplay nevertheless is definitely worth watching in Theatre for SK's unhinged terrific performance and the fiery last 35 mins.

Highlights :

1) Opening 5 mins & Vidyut Intro

2)Salambala Song 

3)Pre Interval Fight

4) Vidyut Jamwal Jailbreak fight

5)Climax Fight

Overall: Madharaasi is a pretty decent Psychological Action Thriller where Action takes the front seat largely. Watch it for SK's terrific performance and Vidyut's massive screen presence. Decent Outing for A.R.Murugadoss after so long. 

Rating :2.75-3/5

Digital Rights: Amazon Prime 

Television Rights: Z Tamizh