Master Review: A Strictly Commercial Film!

Master starring ‘Thalapathy’ Vijay and ‘Makkal Selvan’ Vijay Sethupathi in the lead is the first big Pan-Indian release amidst the ongoing pandemic. Directed by Lokesh Kanagaraj, Master also has Malavika Mohanan, Arjun Das, Shanthanu, and others. Does the movie live up to all the pre-release hype? Let’s find out.

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The narrative of Master pretty simple. One can guess where the movie is headed to within the first twenty minutes. JD (Vijay), an alcoholic college professor, who is loved by his students, gets appointed as the teacher for a Government Juvenile Observation Home where he fights against Bhavani (Vijay Sethupathi), a criminal boss, who uses youngsters from the observatory for his wrongdoings.

Unlike Lokesh Kanakaraj’s previous high-octane action-thriller, Kaithi starring Karthi, Master lacks the element of thrill. With a runtime of 180 minutes, the film takes a lot of time to culminate, and it is imperceptibly unbearable at times. The film has a ton of actors, as the supporting cast, who are insignificant, underused, and do not make a whole lot of sense.

‘Thalapathy’ Vijay as a college professor in Master, is refreshing to watch. The man is young, charming, and performs evenly with more expressions. Comparing to his previous films, he refrains from raising his voice to dish out the Government or convey a social message. He keeps it all subtle and delivers a natural performance.

‘Makkal Selvan’ Vijay Sethupathi has a more significant scope than Vijay in the film. He is ruthless, unmerciful with a stone-heart, and goes all out to achieve what he wants. Director Lokesh Kanakaraj has set his backstory from the beginning of the film and established a proper character arc.

Vijay Sethupathi outshines Vijay, and at the end of the movie, you would remember Bhavani more than JD. He understands the characters’ requirements and executes to the depth by improvising his body language and mannerism. His quick wit at intense scenes cracks us up and relieves the tension.

Leading ladies of a film with a much more influential male star cast often go unnoticed. Such is the case of Malavika Mohanan in Master. She appears for quite some time and vanishes towards the end of the film. As I mentioned earlier, the film has many actors in supporting roles portraying insignificant roles.

Andrea Jeremiah is another example. She is irrelevant and appears in a fight sequence too. Trimming these unimportant scenes would have helped the film in the second half, which extended by twenty minutes.

In an attempt to balance the star value of both Vijay and Vijay Sethupathi, Director Lokesh Kanagaraj has focused on satisfying Vijay’s hardcore fans by writing him many celebratory scenes, and he concentrated more on developing a fitting character for Vijay Sethupathi. In comparison, Sethupathi’s character felt more complete than Vijay because whatever you hear about JD, is all verbal and the man remains a myth.

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Overall, Master is a complete commercial package, tailor-made for the fans with stellar performances from Vijay and Vijay Sethupathi. Overlooking the runtime, the film entertains inside and out and would appeal to the general audiences as well.

Rating – 3/5 | Grade – B

Images via XB Film Creators