Master

Master Movie Synopsis: A college professor is sent to a juvenile criminals’ facility to teach, he takes on a rowdy exploiting these kids to further his criminal empire.

Master Movie Review: Every protagonist needs a fearsome antagonist to turn him into a hero and like every good filmmaker, Lokesh Kanagaraj knows this. This is why Master begins by establishing Bhavani (Vijay Sethupathi) – a man who becomes the very thing juvenile homes don’t want their wards to become – a ruthless monster. In one scene, he’s even shown sporting horns! He establishes his criminal enterprise exploiting the very system that made him so.

JD (Vijay) makes an entry right as a character wonders if they will ever get a brave enough man to fix things and save these boys from a life of crime. A college professor…the kind with a hip flask ready in his pocket, advice ready on his lips and an arm ready to punch! Circumstances lead him to the juvenile home; the students love him and the management, not so much.

Lokesh brings in his filmmaking flair when it comes to Master. The scenes featuring JD have a distinct cool blue tone while that of Bhavani feature a fiery red. There are some cool shots too, like an overhead one that shows the correctional facility bisected with sunlight and darkness, with JD in the lit area. The filmmaker manages to effectively build an aura around his star.

And while all this sounds great on paper, the film is less so. The plot points get familiar and so do the cinematic tropes of villain going after the hero’s loved ones. Even the action sequences hardly offer any thrill. The film is so overlong with the college portions hardly offering any emotional highs. And we get a bunch of supporting characters that are hardly significant.

In the end, it is the charismatic performances of Vijay and Vijay Sethupathi that keeps us rooting. Vijay dances like a dream, and puts his coolth to good effect in the college scenes. He also manages to sell the moments when he has to offer advice. With many heroes, these portions might have come across as preachy, but here, they just feel right. And Vijay Sethupathi manages to steal the show. His casual acting style only elevates Bhavani's cruelty. The final confrontation between the two actors has a couple of rousing moments, helping end the film on a high note.