John Durairaj aka JD (Vijay) is a college professor addicted to alcohol and is always in an inebriated condition. However, he is loved by everyone including Charu (Malavika Mohanan) for his antics and attitude. Bhavani (Vijay Sethupathi) is a local gangster and the leader of the lorry union, who uses juvenile students for his criminal activities. After JD is transferred to this juvenile school, things take a turn as he vouches to put an end to Bhavani’s atrocities. How he achieves this is the core plot of Master.

Power-packed performances by Vijay and Vijay Sethupathi

Both characters played by Vijay and Vijay Sethupathi are superb and well-written. Vijay’s antics are as cool as a cucumber and Anirudh’s background score that flows behind these characters is terrific. Among the rest of the cast, Arjun Das and Shanthanu stand out. The leading ladies, Malavika Mohanana and Andrea Jeremiah play their parts well. However, one gets a feel that Andrea is under used.

Lokesh Kanagaraj continues his winning streak

While this is the first movie for Lokesh Kanagaraj to direct a superstar, there were several questions on how he would be able to handle it, given the kind of film maker he is. However, one must say that Lokesh has passed with flying colours. He knew that he is going to direct the biggest star of Tamil cinema and has leveraged it by coming out of his movie making school. Anirudh’s album and background score is a cracker and so is Sathyan Suryan’s visuals. The art work is pretty good and production values stand out.

WATCH OR NOT

Master is a complete package of mass moments unlike any of Lokesh Kanagaraj’s earlier movies. Vijay and Vijay Sethupathi’s characters and their clash, Anirudh’s background score, Satyan Sooryan’s camera work and Lokesh Kanagaraj’s narrative style are the major takeaways of Master. On the flip side, fewer songs would have kept the run-time trim and crisper. However, it is a perfect stress buster during this pandemic time. Go, cherish this movie in cinemas.

Director: Lokesh Kanagaraj
Writer: Lokesh Kanagaraj
Cast: Vijay, Vijay Sethupathi, Malavika Mohanan, Shanthanu Bhagyaraj, Arjun Das, Andrea Jeremiah, Nassar
Music: Anirudh Ravichander
Background score: Anirudh Ravichander
Cinematography: Sathyan Sooryan
Language: Tamil

Playing in cinemas

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