<p>There’s a moment in <em>Mareesan</em> where Vadivelu’s character Velayudham tells Fahadh Faasil’s Dhaya to take the village route as it is too hot on the highway. And so they take their RX100 bike through a village. There is a sudden relief which is also felt by the audience. The takeaway is that there was so much potential in the movie that simply went unused. </p>.<p><em>Mareesan</em> is a road movie about an Alzheimer’s patient who is rescued from captivity by a small-time thief, whose true motive is to extort money from the old man. That’s the first half of the movie; a decently executed slow-burn that leads up to a breathtaking twist. However, the second half of the film jumps into a trope-mode. It opens a Pandora’s box of clichés and predictable plots. The movie is just a ragebait that lacks nuance and fails to show respect towards the actual victims the film discusses.</p>.<p>Speaking of the positives, <em>Mareesan</em> is a movie that left me with a great deal of awe for Vadivelu as an actor. Fahadh too shines in a role he has already done too many times. The duo share a great onscreen chemistry, breathtakingly pure. Moreover, Vadivelu’s vocals in many of the emotional sequences of the movie take the emotional connection with the scene up a notch. </p>.<p>Kailaiselva’s cinematography is raw and makes the characters relatable as they travel from village to village on a two-stroke bike. Yuvan Shankar Raja’s music and the background score are both jarring and feels authentic in different intervals. </p>
<p>There’s a moment in <em>Mareesan</em> where Vadivelu’s character Velayudham tells Fahadh Faasil’s Dhaya to take the village route as it is too hot on the highway. And so they take their RX100 bike through a village. There is a sudden relief which is also felt by the audience. The takeaway is that there was so much potential in the movie that simply went unused. </p>.<p><em>Mareesan</em> is a road movie about an Alzheimer’s patient who is rescued from captivity by a small-time thief, whose true motive is to extort money from the old man. That’s the first half of the movie; a decently executed slow-burn that leads up to a breathtaking twist. However, the second half of the film jumps into a trope-mode. It opens a Pandora’s box of clichés and predictable plots. The movie is just a ragebait that lacks nuance and fails to show respect towards the actual victims the film discusses.</p>.<p>Speaking of the positives, <em>Mareesan</em> is a movie that left me with a great deal of awe for Vadivelu as an actor. Fahadh too shines in a role he has already done too many times. The duo share a great onscreen chemistry, breathtakingly pure. Moreover, Vadivelu’s vocals in many of the emotional sequences of the movie take the emotional connection with the scene up a notch. </p>.<p>Kailaiselva’s cinematography is raw and makes the characters relatable as they travel from village to village on a two-stroke bike. Yuvan Shankar Raja’s music and the background score are both jarring and feels authentic in different intervals. </p>