| Starring | Jeeva, Narain, Pooja Hegde, Nassar, Selvaah |
|---|---|
| Music | K Kay |
| Director | Mysskin |
| Producer | Ronnie Screwvala , Siddharth Roy Kapur |
| Year | 2012 |
UTV Motion Pictures much hyped Mugamoodi (Mask) like the proverbial curate’s egg is good in parts. It has very good music and background score by K, but lacks a proper script and a racy presentation.
Jiiva is very sincere and tries his best to evolve as a super hero. However the justification and the way the protagonist turn super hero lacks conviction, slickness and does not live up to the expectations.
Mysskin starts off promisingly but as the film progresses it loses its fizz. It fails to deliver the thrills of watching a superhero film. Adhering to the unwritten superhero rule, Mugamoodi too is born out of tragedy. Our boy-next-door Anand (Jiiva) aka Bruce Lee, a Kung-Fu trained guy turns Mugamoodi, when his best friend is killed and he is mistaken by his lover Sakthi (Pooja Hegde) for shooting her dad the assistant Police commissioner Gaurav (Nasser).
The only real standout performance is by Jiiva who has tried his best to rise above a flawed script. It’s commendable that Narain has stepped out of his comfort zone of playing hero and experiment as a bad man. But sadly the script lets him down and as the main antagonist he fails to send chills down the audience’s spine and becomes a caricature in the climax scenes.
The rest of the supporting cast like Girish Karnad are stereotypes and have nothing to do. What's missing from Mugamoodi is a sure-footed director's touch, as Mysskin seem to be terribly inspired from many classics in the same genre, especially in the climax where Narain’s character speaks and acts like Heath Ledger’s memorable Joker in Batman. Debutant Pooja disappoints, as she lacks screen presence.
The first half of the film is its most interesting aspect. The scenes of Bruce Lee (Jiiva) and his friends making merry is enjoyable, though the humour is ordinary. In the second half the film drags and at 2 hours and 43 minutes it’s a bit too long including a long drawn out climax, where an entire battalion of cops are shown in poor light!
There are only two songs and Bar Anthem number is immediately followed by Vaayamoodi Summa Iru Da in the first half! On the whole, Mugamoodi is a one-time watch for Mysskin and Jiiva’s attempt to do something different. Wish it had a more solid and powerful script.