A mandram (association) forms the backdrop of everything that happens in Veera . The film opens with a history of how mandrams were formed in the first place for social good, but have now turned into the dens of wrongdoing. Over many games of carrom in these dimly-lit mandrams , youngsters plot murders and kidnappings. To borrow a word that Tamil cinema has become fascinated with in recent times, they “sketch”.
Veeramuthu (Krishna) is one such youngster. He’s adept at plotting evil acts, we’re told often, but he – and his friend Pachamuthu (Karunakaran) – don’t have the kind of respect they aim for. That’s because Sura Murugan (Kanna Ravi) has become the toast of the colony, thanks to the backing of heavyweight Boxer Rajendran.
- Director : Rajaraman
- Cast : Krishna, Iswarya Menon, Karunakaran
- Storyline : A youngster who dreams of becoming popular gets entangled in a tussle between two rowdies
What starts off as a petty face-off between Veera and Sura gets serious when the former goes to Sketch Sekar (Radha Ravi) for guidance on learning the tricks of the trade. Veera goes in expecting a goonda , but is surprised to see him as a godman, now far away from the business of ‘sketch’. He trains Veera in some of the more interesting sequences in the film.
Things heat up with the entry of Kumar, who lusts after Boxer Rajendran’s daughter Renuka. Veera gets entangled in a face-off that he least expects to get into, but he must solve the puzzle to emerge victorious.
Veera keeps moving at a decent pace and engages at most times. It cleverly avoids the mistake that this year’s earlier film on a similar subject – Vikram’s Sketch – did, and doesn’t hero worship one bit. It’s also a relief that the love track is kept to a minimal; there’s composer Leon James’ adorable ‘Veratama Veratariye’ to watch out for. Karunakaran moves away from just comedy and gets a role equal to that of the lead – a sure sign of his rising popularity in filmdom.
The staging of the sequences might be average, but director Rajaram sketches some pretty interesting characters. A murderer is now a godman. A rowdy is named Jonty Rhodes because “he used to scale walls to impress aunties”. They all use cuss words at the drop of a hat – probably the reason behind the film’s A certificate – and are all engaged in local fights. No wonder the film’s tagline is “first blood.”