Mookuthi Amman 2 Movie Review

One of South Indian cinema’s original creations, amman films, are a genre of their own. An offshoot of devotional cinema, amman films did not focus on popular mythology or any scriptures. Instead, through the lens of rural deities, it explored, feminine rage, the cracks in the Indian family system, and of course the power of faith. Such a rooted and original genre seemed like a natural fit in the hands of a filmmaker like Sundar C and a star like Nayanthara. However, Mookuthi Amman 2 felt like a systematic desecration of the amman genre.

The issues with the film are not simple and straightforward. There are multiple levels and even complexity with which the film relentlessly debases itself with every new scene. An effort to experiment with the filmmaking style and the intent to create an ambitious large-scale spectacle, are both clearly visible. The camera has a character of its own, zooming around, swinging back and forth between the characters. The period flashback portions are ambitious on paper. But, without an original vision, both experimentation and ambition become counterproductive. Exhibit A: We follow a character rushing towards a door, the camera races through the door before him, just to show him opening the door a second later from inside the room. This is just a taste of the film’s obsession with redundancy. Exhibit B: The film wants to show you grand war sequences, and amman fighting like a superhero. And Sundar C achieves it with an almost shot-by-shot recreation of scenes from Avengers: Infinity War, 300, and more. ‘What’s wrong with a harmless homage, he’s just having fun with it’, you might say. If you take the extra effort to perceive this as an homage instead of a lack of originality, then maybe you are the target audience for this film.

Director: Sundar C

Cast: Nayanthara, Regina Cassandra, Urvashi, Duniya Vijay

Nayanthara plays a policewoman who gets nightmares about her past life as Mookuthi Amman. At every turn, from her visions to random strangers, everything hints that she should visit a village known as Mylanji. At the same time, an ancient sorceress played by Regena Cassandrra, awakens to take revenge on the amman. But even before you get there, you have to sit through a chaotic assembly of scenes stitched together by, what seems like, on-spot improvisation. There is a stream-of-consciousness aspect to the way the story moves. One moment, Nayanthara almost gets killed stopping a human sacrifice, and in another scene she revives a dead baby by simply holding it in her hand. An evil sorcerer (Sunil) kills a spiritual guru and immediately gets jailed, another evil sorcerer (Garuda Ram) performs tasks through black magic for the rich and powerful that they can anyway do with their money and power. Duniya Vijay gets a dedicated montage to show his gym routine (there is a solid 5 second shot of him just flexing his biceps at the camera). The most baffling part of the film is how it didn’t seem to be interested in Nayanthara’s character, despite the numerous action star-like hero elevations it gives her. Yes, she is the eponymous Amman but even when she is not in her God avatar, there seems to be no trace of a personality. Even in the climatic battle sequence, where we expect Mookuthi Amman to rage out, the focus is instead given to special cameo appearances, who unfortunately end up ruining the sequence with plastic performances. 

Despite tough competition from the writing department, the most irredeemable parts of the film still remain to be the visual effects and production design. Sunil and Regina’s characters worship a demonic entity, which is supposed to be as powerful as God herself. And everytime the visuals cut to a statue of the “Sathan/Chathan” it draws a chuckle out of you, when it probably shouldn’t. There are kids being thrown into the fire by an evil sorceress but you still can’t get over how goofy our main bad guy looks. Everytime there is a close up of a crown or a prop, you can’t help but wait for the glue to wear off and the glass beads to fall off. The school drama grade production quality is still the last of your worries. As far as performances go, Nayanthara seems to have given up trying to care long before we do. Sunil and Garuda’s characters, made to wear ridiculous costumes and walk around in completely normal settings like a hospital, look unintentionally hilarious. Regina steals the show but unfortunately, the show isn’t worth stealing. Her sincerity is endearing nonetheless. Duniya Vijay’s performance fits well with the wacky tone of the film but it would have been vastly more enjoyable if the film didn’t take itself too seriously. Speaking of which, Sundar C’s greatest strength, humour, is the most crippled in Mookuthi Amman 2. None of the comedic tracks elicit any reaction.

With endless onslaught of sloppy CGI, chaotic assembly of scenes, music more focused on tearing up your eardrums, and a story devoid of any depth, Mookuthi Amman 2 is a hollow exploitation of the Amman genre.