‘Madha Gaja Raja’ movie review: Huge, beautiful C’s fun, largely reminiscent of masala cinema of yesteryear

This year we have three Tamil films and one pan-India title joining the Pongal cinema frenzy, with two more big ticket releases on the horizon. Still, it wouldn’t be wrong to say that this year’s most interesting Pongal release might actually be (quite a strange affair). Madh Gaj Raja Masala cinema’s master chef Sundar C’s long-delayed comedy entertainer is releasing after 12 years. The release of a quintessential beautiful entertainer is an event worth discussing Madh Gaj Raja It’s not just that: it’s also a reminder, partly of what current Tamil cinema is missing and partly of what it has tried to reform itself from.

Look, here’s the deal; It’s clearly a time capsule for the long-lost sub-genre of masala cinema, and it’s natural to wonder how the basic ideas behind the film have aged over the years. It must either be stale and formulaic, or it must have a timeless appeal that forces you to take it at face value, indifferent to the bigger picture, and forces you to look beyond its flaws. thankfully, Madh Gaj Raja Almost falls into the second category, providing mindless entertainment and relief from all the serious artists of our time. If you’re hoping this will satisfy your 2025 movie-watching sensibilities, this may not be for you. However, if you are a viewer familiar with Sundar C’s brand of cinema, Madh Gaj Raja is a delightful throwback – it tells you a thing or two about the commercial cinema of our past; why one Pushpa 2 Works in 2024; Why filmmakers took big gambles with comedy; And why heroines have been reduced to being shamefully used as mere sex symbols.

Let me prepare you for the kind of movie that awaits you: In his new simple abode, a man opens the window to see a temple tower, which he says is an auspicious sign. His daughter opens another adjacent window, looks at Vishal, the film’s hero, and says, “But I can see God himself.” Imagine a packed theater hall, some people laughing with their heads down and some still processing the lenses to watch the movie.

A lot of these ideas, which are extremely useful today, were popular in the 2000s and 2010s, and that the makers didn’t cut them says more about the release itself. Another example is a slow-motion intercut that shows the same girl, feeling all the heat in her loins for Vishal, as he grabbed her hips while matrix-bending to avoid the sickle-slash? Madh Gaj Raja It’s full of the kind of camping tropes we’ve long since forgotten, often resulting in bursts of laughter from the audience, the loudest of which came at the sight of a car waving vertically in the air (huge and beautiful Both have made some mistakes) since their Ambala Day).

What really caught my attention is that the first half of the film shows why the filmmakers largely stick to the masala cinema formula – because it works. Many commercial elements are packed in so densely, and very surprisingly it does not compromise the progression of the plot. A lot happens in just one hour in the film. A major attraction? After an eternity, the comedian makes a grand comeback in Santhanam, the throwbacks are intact, and we even get long-forgotten independent comedy tracks.

The plot is simple; Raja (Vishal) and his three childhood friends – played by Santhanam, Nithin Sathya and Sadagopan Ramesh – meet again at the wedding of their favorite school teacher’s daughter. The wedding festivities themselves provide room for comedy as well as drama, centering on the bride’s love affair and Santhanam’s character’s marital issues, culminating in a revelation that introduces the film’s main antagonist. Gives: Sonu Sood’s Kirkwell Vishwanath, a media business tycoon who wronged both Nitin and Ramesh.

Raja vows to make it right with his friends, leading to the second half of the film, where the film falters. He easily foils the political ambitions of the nitwit villain, a multi-millionaire who lets his ego get the better of him. Meanwhile, Raja is caught in a love triangle with Madhavi (Anjali), a girl who wears traditional attire, who initially leaves him after a misunderstanding, and Maya (Varalakshmi Sarathkumar), Ramesh’s sister-in-law who wants to meet Wears western clothes. Yin-yang formation. Come on, there’s something for all men, right? This film was made when Vishal was in his era Theradha Vilayattu Pillai Charan, and once again, the women here have nothing to do except fight for the king and become irrelevant sex symbols in the eyes of men (there is a scene in which the king emerges from a well with two heroines in his lap!). .

Just as you are about to lose patience, Santhanam returns to add some much-needed lightness. A scene featuring Santhanam, Vishal, Rajendran and the late veteran Manobala is comedy gold; It pays homage to a certain comedy track of late 90s comedian Nagesh, and its execution is knee-jerk, to say the least. This is what has been missing in Tamil cinema for a long time. The gradual disposal of the comedy track requires its own analysis, but without the comedy avatars of Santhanam, Souris and Sivakarthikeyan, there is a severe drought for good old school comedy. Remember, this was a follow up to the beautiful KalakalappuOne of the most popular masala comedies of its time, when Santhanam and Manobala were at their comedy best.

Vishal was in dire need of a comedy break then and perhaps this was it. He shows off his six packs in the fight with Sood and delivers heroic punchlines as standard procedure, but his supporting role in Santhanam’s comedy is more impressive. This is not to mention the late veteran Manivannan’s cameo and Lollu Sabha Swaminathan’s scenes, which remind you how such a supporting cast can support a film, especially when the writing slows down.

As you might have guessed, this is a film that benefits from its self-awareness and the irreverence you see as a product of 2013. A scene in which Raja and his friends deliberately lose a race to their childhood rivals only works because you know that kind of writing is a thing of the past. This allows you to turn off your mind and ignore the offensive aspects (from sexual innuendo, double entender jokes and provocative dance choreography to casual misogyny and the use of tactics to deal with situations with damsels in distress) – with provocative thoughts everywhere. These happen, which spoils the environment. They are almost inseparable from the fabric of Madh Gaj Raja,

But what if Sundar C now makes the same film which has huge demand for both comedy and good masala entertainment? It may be difficult to find takers for this brand of cinema and each artist is on a different course in their career (there is also no suitable replacement). Even Sundar C has evolved considerably, as was evident Aranmanai 4Also, will Vijay Antony give the music and Vishal will sing a song which will be ‘Ni osi likar’u, yen heart’u jamputhuLet’s hope that doesn’t happen.

So, probably most of the things that shine Madh Gaj Raja It’s not the movie itself, but the mindless fun of watching something that as a whole can only exist in your past. It is nothing more than a ‘could have’ that has somehow become a ‘must have’.

Madha Gaja Raja is currently running in theaters