Reviews & Ratings for
மெட்ராஸ் (2014)

A wall is a source of discontent between two political rivals. Kaali and his friend Anbu, who is a party worker, get embroiled in this clash, which only gets bloody thereafter Kaali (Karthi) is one of the well-educated youngsters in his ‘area’. His posh office is far removed from the middle class chaos that is his housing board colony. He has a great set of friends and he is closest to Anbu (Kalaiarasan), a political underling, who care for his people and hopes to avenge the numerous deaths that have been caused by the ill-fated wall in their locality. This wall has been a constant source of discontent for two political rivals. Spurred on by Kaali, who is a natural firebrand, Anbu, supported by the local politician Maari (Vinoth), decides to settle the matter for ever but it only earns him the wrath of Kannan (Nanthakumar), the rival politician whose late father’s image is painted on the wall.But Ranjith keeps defying our expectations in subtle ways. We think we know what the outcome of a scene would be but he constantly surprises us with how the scene is executed. The best example of this is the pre-interval block, which is as tense and suspenseful as the intermission point of Jigarthanda. A plot to murder a character is hatched and we know deep down that this character will die. But the death isn’t staged in a way that we expect. The character even manages to escape from this attempt and just when we think that things are going to get better for him, Ranjith stages the killing. Thus, it is as shocking to us as it is for the hero. In another scene which takes place in a restaurant, we see a character’s true colours for the first time and Kaali and his lover Kalaiarasai (Catherine Tresa, making a fine debut) come to this very place. We think Kaali will find the truth about this character and he does but in a least expected way. The romance is treated not as a track but as something integral to the plot. So, even when things eventually start getting routine-ish, like the hero finding himself in a position where he has to go on a revenge spree, we get scenes of Kaali and Kalai discussing the implication of his actions on their lives. The action scenes, too, get a twist. When Kaali takes on a dozen henchmen, the director crosscuts it with scenes of Kaali playing football, with just the ambient sounds of a football match acting as the BGM. AND THE MOVIE REVOLVES AROUND HOW THE WALL ISSUE TAKES LIVES OF EACH AND FINALLY HOW IT IS REMOVED ALL THE STORY REVOLVES AROUND THE WALL ONLY

The movie speaks about the youth of North Madras, how [politics affect them, their lives. As the director, Pa Ranjith himself says “it’s a mainstream movie which has documented the vibrant life of the oppressed”. Listen to the words he uses. It is indeed a documentation and that might be the reason why this movie breaks many dominant Tamilian stereotypes seen in the other films. The film shows North Chennai in its actuality. Each of the characters has a major and memorable role to play except maybe for the lead Karthi. An inanimate thing like a wall leads the story making many life-changing decisions in people’s life.