'Manithan' review: Udhayanidhi's performance and Ahmed's adaptation are a stand-out

Film: Manithan
Cast: Udhayanidhi Stalin, Hansika Motwani, Prakash Raj, Radha Ravi
Director: I Ahmed

What it's about: Manithan is the Tamil remake of the Hindi film Jolly LLB which starred Arshad Warsi, Boman Irani, Saurabh Shukla and Amrita Rao in lead roles. Udhayanidhi bought the remake rights and brought in director I Ahmed to adapt it for the Tamil audience. Two strong actors - Prakash Raj and Radha Ravi – were signed on for the roles of Boman Irani and Saurabh Shukla respectively. And this was a casting coup by the director and producer. Manithan is a somewhat serious courtroom drama which questions the legal system, the rampant corruption and the ability of the rich to control the lives of the poor. It’s the story of an unsuccessful young lawyer named Sakthi (Udhayanidhi) who lands up in Chennai to prove to his moraiponnu (uncle’s daughter played by Hansika) and her family that he is worthy. Trying to earn their respect, he desperately tries to snag a case and win. During this time, he runs into Adiseshan (Prakash Raj) who is an unbeatable Supreme Court lawyer. Sakthi watches Adiseshan win a hit-and-run case with ease and tells him he learnt so much from him. But after three months, he still doesn’t have a case and feels he has failed. This is when the hit-and-run case comes back to him and TV reporter Jennifer (Aishwarya Rajesh) steps in to help him in the case. What if he files a PIL? What if he can find the witnesses? What if he can take on the mighty Adiseshan?

What’s good: Very often a remake can go wrong, but in this case, director Ahmed has adapted the Hindi film to local sensibilities very well. Jolly LLB is not your typical commercial masala and adapting it to suit the local audience requires the knack to pull it off. Ahmed has added the right amount of humour and lengthened the presence of the heroine to make it more appealing to the Tamil audience. But the movie is still a serious courtroom drama where Sakthi fights for the rights of the poor and have-nots. After five films, Udhayanidhi has turned to a more serious, emotional role and has delivered his best performance till date. Playing Sakthi required him to excel at emoting and dialogue delivery and he’s passed the test. Hansika plays Priya, a schoolteacher, and she has essayed her role well too. In fact, her simplicity and subdued acting added to the film. Prakash Raj and Radha Ravi, who are acting veterans, pulled off their roles with ease and both of them have tremendous screen presence. Prakash Raj as the loud, obnoxious Adiseshan was perfect while Radha Ravi as Dhanapal, the give-me-an-interesting-case judge, evoked laughter and respect. The casting is one of the major strengths of this film as is the adaptation. Music director Santosh Narayanan has given some good songs and the BGM is apt as well.

What’s not: Manithan is not your usual Tamil film so it is a slow watch. Given this, the film could have done away with one or two of the montage songs which added to the length of the film. If it had been trimmed down a little (10 mins or so), the pace would have been better.

What to do: Manithan works because of the casting and the fact that one lawyer from nowhere decides to fight for justice for the have-nots. It’s a feel-good film that has you rooting for the weak and shows you that being a manithan (human) is important. 

Rating:***