Mersal movie review: Atlee's dull second half makes Vijay's film an average entertainer

Ratings: 2.5
This is the land that preaches 'Vaidyo Narayano Harihi' (meaning: Consider doctors on par with Narayana - the god) and it is considered a noble profession. But, thanks to globalisation and burgeoning of private hospitals, the health sector has become an easy means to mint money.

Mersal 2-day Box Office Collection: Vijay's Film Grosses Big Money

The intrinsic feeling of compassion that every doctor should posses has increasingly been replaced by greed, even at the cost of professional ethics. Keeping the erosion of kindness and empathy in medical profession in the backdrop, Atlee Kumar has crafted a commercial entertainer with Vijay in multiple roles and Kajal Aggarwal, Samantha and Nithya Menen as his leading ladies.

Story:
Mersal begins with the kidnap of a few people and the common link between them is that they are associated with health industry. A cop named Rathnavel (Sathyaraj) arrests Dr Maaran (Vijay) in connection with the case which paves way for a flashback.

Maaran meets Anu Pallavi (Kajal Aggarwal) in Europe and they fall in love quickly, but her heart is broken when she sees the hero killing her higher officer. On the other side, a journalist wants to have an interview with Maaran, who has earned a good reputation in the society by treating his patients for just Rs 5. Here too the love blossoms between the duo. Why does the hero fall in love with two girls? Is he playing dual roles? Watch the movie to get the answers to these questions.

Meanwhile, Daniel (SJ Suryah) wants to hunt down Maaran. Another flashback reveals his association with Vetrimaran (Vijay). What follows next should be enjoyed only in theatres.

Altee has churned out a 'pakka' commercial potboiler with almost right mix of ingredients. One would not be surprised if he/she is reminded of Kaththi, which was laced with a message. Like in AR Murugadoss' film, the target of the hero is the corporates.

Mersal raises some serious questions about the health industry and attempts to reveal how the private hospitals try to fleece money from the public.

Vijay thrills viewers with his multiple roles. Be it in his 'veshti'-clad avatar or of a magician, he performs his roles with ease and does it in style. Samantha and Kajal Aggarwal add glamour to the film although their roles are strictly limited to running around the trees with their boyfriends.

Vadivelu has a meaty role, but do not expect his combo with Vijay to work like in Pokkiri or Kavalan. But the problem lies in SJ Surya's role. Especially after seeing his role in Mahesh Babu's Spyder, this character lacks depth. Yet he shines whenever he comes on-screen. 

Coming to the technicalities, a few tracks of AR Rahman's are good with Aalaporaan Tamizhan track being the trump card in the album. Cinematography gets full marks.

There are ample of whistle-worthy moments peppered with punch dialogues. The comment on the GST in the climax (similar to the one in Kaththi) earns wild cheers from the audience in theatres.

The flawless first half is thoroughly enjoyable. The flashback and twists raise the curiosity levels of the viewers in the second half. But the second half is a letdown. The story becomes predictable and the flashback portion of the village man gets stretched to a yawn-inducing level.

The movie, which was expected to raise serious questions about the corruption in the health industry, turns out to be a usual revenge story in the end.

The high points of Mersal are – brilliant first half, Vijay's performance and dialogues, among others. However, on the flip side, the lacklustre screenplay in the second half just makes the movie an average entertainer, else it could have been a feather in both Vijay and Atlee's caps.