Movie: Mouna Guru
Cast: Arulnithi, Iniya, John Vijay
“Mouna Guru” is one of the little masterpieces that have come out in recent times but may go unrecognised unless backed by positive word-of-mouth. The film works because the central plot is the soul of the film and all the characters have lived out their roles.
Storyline
Karunakaran (Arulnithi) is a college student in Madurai. He has a unique attitude and stands out in a crowd. A small tussle with a telephone booth owner lands him in trouble, which results in his termination from the college. He then travels to Chennai along with his mother to stay with his brother. Aarthi (Iniya), his sister-in-law's sister, is a medical college student and slowly love blossoms between the two.
Karunakaran joins a college in Chennai but he is soon drawn into mysterious circumstances involving high ranking police officers. Those police officers go to the extent of trying to kill him in an encounter. Being a soft spoken guy, how he reacts to the a situation forms the climax of the story.
Performances
Arulnithi has given an incredible performance and steals the show with his underplayed performance. He has got the much needed break in Kollywood. Iniya, who performed brilliantly in “Vaagai Sooda Vaa” has little scope to perform but is flawless in her role. John Vijay is splendid in the role of the antagonist.
Uma Riyaz Khan is the surprise element and has pulled off the pregnant police officer's role with ease and conviction. All the other supporting actors contribute significantly to take the movie forward.
Thaman's music is quite apt for the movie and the songs gel well with flow the of the movie. Mahesh Muthuswami's camera work was good. Editing by Raja Muhammed is slick but one would feel that the second half drags a bit and needs some trimming.
Debutant Director Santha Kumar deserves praise for making a taut thriller that retains the suspense till the very end. When directors fancy themselves making commercial pot-boilers, Santha Kumar has taken a path which is less explored, hats off to him.
Bottomline: Mouna Guru is an intriguing thriller that is filled with twists and turns. It is a welcome relief from the countless crass commercial entertainers.
