If Anand Shankar's previous film Arima Nambi had echoes of K Bhagyaraj's Rudhra, the set-up of his Iru Mugan recalls that of Kamal Haasan's Vikram. An intelligence officer is tasked with investigating and foiling a nefarious plot. The mastermind behind the plot is the man who killed his wife, and he is now conducting his operation from a foreign nation. So, the officer has to go there with a female sidekick in tow and save the day. Here, it is Akilan (Vikram, with beard), a RAW agent who goes after Malaysia to capture Love (Vikram, with prosthetics), an anarchist and a brilliant knowledge about chemicals, to avenge the murder of his wife Meera (Nayanthara, whose character feels underwritten despite a terrific twist). He is accompanied on this mission by Ayushi (Nithya Menen, in a rather minor role), a trainee officer.
With Arima Nambi, Anand Shankar showed us that he has a flair for Hollywood-ish action thrillers. Iru Mugan, too, feels like something that Hollywood might have come up with. There is a high-concept involving a super drug that increases one's adrenaline and turns ordinary men into supermen for five minutes. The villain is an over-the-top figure who seems to indulge in evil acts not out of any agenda, but more because he relishes the chaos he can create in the world. There is also a clever twist involving the heroine that is actually borrowed from Fast & Furious 6. The characters look chic and the visuals have a sheen that we don't usually see in our films here.
( 3 / 5 )