After a long hiatus of nine years, director Santhakumar - who directed his debut Kollywood movie, Mounaguru- is back with a glorious bang with his second hit movie Magamuni .
Magamuni is an engagingly well packaged, good quality film.
The movie was not shot on a big budget, but it has the tag ‘winner’ written all over it and I hope it does well at the box office. A movie such as this must be appreciated for its excellent screenplay.
Maga (Arya) is employed as a taxi driver but moonlights as a hitman who works for Muthuraj (Ilavarasu), a greedy and crooked politician.
Although Maga is a hardened hitman, his life revolves around wife Viji (Indhuja) and his 5-year-old son Prabha. While Maga is wholeheartedly loyal to Muthuraj, the politician just uses him to get his dirty work done.
Director Santhakumar ingeniously then introduces Muni - also played to perfection by Arya -who is well-educated and disciplined and prefers to be a bachelor. He teaches underprivileged students. However, when a journalist student Deepa (Mahima Nambiar) who hails from an affluent family takes a liking to Muni, her step-dad (Jayaprakash) is against their relationship and very cunningly tries his utmost to drive them apart.
How the lives of the twin brothers, Maga and Muni, cross each other’s path forms the crux of the story.
The first half of Magamuni is nothing compared to what happens in the second half. Santhakumar takes the viewer on a nail- biting edge of the seat journey fraught with heart-stopping moments.
Arya has grown in leaps and bounds as an all consummate actor and has played his dual role with great aplomb. His role as Maga and Muni clearly shows his versatility as an actor of note. Both Indhuja and Mahima Nambiar play their respective roles to perfection and they complement the story of Magamuni quite comfortably. The supporting cast do not disappoint with their roles either.
Thaman’s music and background score is a huge asset to Magamuni .
The plus factor of the movie is cinematographer Arun Padmanaban, who utilizes lighting, colour, tone and camera angles to capture the distinct roles of Maga and Muni and the overall brooding atmosphere of the movie. He deserves to be applauded.
Magamuni is new age cinema and should be eagerly embraced. Great cinema must be celebrated and Magamuni is no exception. If a movie forces you to still stare at the screen when the end credits roll then that director (in this case Santhakumar) has succeeded in his intention to deliver an awesome product.
Magamuni is now showing two shows daily at Cine Centre Suncoast in Durban.
Lachimiah is a DJ on Megazone South Radio, co-presenting with his daughter Mikayla every Saturday from 1pm to 4pm. He is an MC and motivational speaker and has a deep interest in Kollywood movies and music.