Muthu Engira Kaattaan Review:
The very news of collaboration between filmmaker Manikandan and actor Vijay Sethupathi, who together have delivered memorable films, for web series, a format to which both are new, caused excitement and expectations. Muthu Engira Kaattaan hooks you in right from the word go, teasing an engrossing human-story with every episode only to settle for a very easy and convenient writing as the series progresses. The series would have been a lot better if Manikandan maintained the emotional tone he set during the initial episodes, instead of trying his first strokes with mass-masala filmmaking.
Muthu Engira Kaattaan begins in rural Madurai with a cop Kaalai Pandiyan (Kodangi), who does this job because his wife Lalitha (VJ Parvathy), doesn't want him to engage in any menial job. There is a looming threat of the police station being shut down because there is zero reporting of crimes. But one day, a decapitated but smiling head of Muthu (Vijay Sethupathi) is discovered, and the cops jump into action about this gruesome crime. While Kaalai is asked to run an investigation in and around the village, SI Sidharthan (Muthukumar) and Thangamudi (Singam Puli) take a journey to Kerala after learning that Muthu, before working as a bodyguard to a local dance troupe, was a mahout and a helper in a children's home in the neighbouring state.
In a way, Muthu reminds us of Ramaiah (Kadaisi Vivasayi), who was an innocent but mentally unstable person. Muthu carries a striking semblance to Ramaiah, especially in his belief in the goodness of people and the world. He chases a Parotta outlet's proprietor to buy the shop only to give it to the ill-treated employee of this owner. He throws a wad of cash at waylaying robbers to split among them. He even buys goat droppings for money or plastic goods. Muthu's character also teases at the possibility of unleashing violence, but we don't really buy this threat.
The supporting cast of Singam Puli, Muthukumar, Kodangi, and Risha Jacobs do a neat job. The to-and-fro between the cops about the future of the police station was quite amusing. These tiny aspects help lubricate an otherwise monotonous screenplay that is solely interested in demystifying Muthu. The mother-in-law and daughter-in-law portions, involving VJ Parvathy, served no purpose, and if it was intended to be funny, the result is far from it.
Cast: Vijay Sethupathi, Milind Soman, Singam Puli, Muthukumar, Richa Jacobs
Director: M Manikandan
Streaming Platform: JioHotstar
The good things and the bad things about the screenplay could be divided into two halves of the series itself. The first five episodes cause genuine curiosity about who Muthu was. The other five, wading into the mass masala space, render the series very predictable and give it an ordinary finish. The slow-burning treatment of the screenplay, branching out different stories of Muthu during different time periods where he is seen performing various odd jobs, still kept us engaged. The investigative part also only works up to the first five episodes. The set-ups show Muthu performing four different hustles in four different periods. Their placement evinces shock, and all four portions retain the thought that there is more to Muthu than what meets the eye.
Things go downhill when the cops go on an 'investigation' across parts of Kerala. They never investigate anything as such, and merely interview people who have been associated with Muthu making it feel like research for a biographical documentary. The cops only record what is told to them, and they do not do policing of any kind. This worked till the first five episodes, because the revelations still had shock value. But when the series runs out of ammunition, we get the generic gang wars, lessons on philanthropy, discussions on good gangster vs bad gangster, and a Thalapathi-esque angle to Muthu and Sivetta/Sivendra Narottam Desai (Milind Soman).
When the series inquires deeper into Muthu's life in Kerala, the writing meanders. Things start getting outrageously plastic, and the story gets buried under its own weight. There is a visible struggle on the part of the makers to establish a convincing connection between the ambitious narrative leaps it took during the initial episodes. As the enigma fatigue sets in, the series gets increasingly convoluted. Then the narrative relies on just a couple of stunt sequences and totally soulless romantic tracks in two time periods involving Muthu, Meena, and Sindhu (Kalaivani). What adds to their soullessness is the abrupt end given to them. Sprinklings of humour present themselves with Sidharthan speaking in English to elderly women, something which we saw him do with a lot more elan in the recent Thaai Kizhavi. But on the downside, when he seriously speaks in English to other officers, it is inadvertently funny.
Muthu Engira Kaattaan is definitely a step down for Manikandan, after making films like Kaaka Muttai, Aandavan Kattalai, and Kadaisi Vivasayi. The series would have worked better if we delved deeper into the kind of man he was, and discovered it in a much better chronology.
Imagine getting intrigued by seeing the protagonist as a bodyless head in the very first episode, and end up knowing very little about him even after 10 episodes. Surprisingly, Manikandan, whose forte is showing how someone is different from how he is perceived by others, lets the peg of a Kaattaan (a barbarian) being a very humane person than most, slip through his hands.