Spoilers ahead…
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Posted in: Cinema: Tamil
After a slightly shaky start, Venkat Prabhu’s ‘Maanaadu’ (STR, SJ Suryah, Kalyani Priyadarshan) is a terrific time-loop thriller
Posted on November 25, 2021
Baradwaj Rangan 
gnanaozhi
November 25, 2021
I didn’t even know there was a movie like this coming out, but am going to watch it tomorrow.
The joys of being between jobs is I get to watch movies whenever I feel like it 😉
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gnanaozhi
November 25, 2021
S J Surya the actor is far better than the director.
Iraivi, Nenjam Marapathillai, Monster…3 different genres, 3 entirely different roles and he kills it all.
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Sri Prabhuram
November 25, 2021
OMG! Never expected this positive of a review of a Venkat Prabhu film (since Chennai 28)!
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H. Prasanna
November 26, 2021
Every time a star film is good, BR is like “is this the watershed moment?” And every time the stars are like, we are going to use the credibility from this good film to make three money-making lazy films. And when the audience and BR are just short of writing them off, they suddenly start listening to Assistant directors and scriptwriters and make another good one. It IS a time loop.
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vijay
November 26, 2021
these are the benefits of keeping expectations low..you come away more (pleasantly) surprised than you should be..It’s all in the calibration.
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Prakash Alagarsamy
November 26, 2021
Is the good review because of low expectations?? Just asking. Haven’t yet seen the movie
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brangan
November 26, 2021
Prakash Alagarsamy Not at all. I really liked the film. Like I said the start is a bit shaky, but then it really works (minor flaws apart). And Simbu/SJ Suryah make a terrific pair.
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vijay
November 26, 2021
Maybe Venkat Prabhu has invented a new template here. Squeeze all the flab inside of the first 20 mins, get the mandatory hero intros and songs out of the way and just when the reviewers go “oh, no, here we go again..” you pull the rug from under their feet. So somebody who says “I gauge films based on what I think the film sets out do in the first 15/20 mins” will be pleasantly surprised 20-25 mins into the film. Its about toying with your expectations within the running time of the film itself.
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KS
November 26, 2021
I hope the great reviews for this movie helps turn things around for Simbu. He’s too good a star to be in a slump forever, and cinema needs a lot more of him. Love him or hate him, you can’t deny that he has charisma, commanding screen presence, and multiple talents. Hopefully this movie’s success would motivate him to take his job more seriously and change his attitude.
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sandeepkcs
November 26, 2021
Great review BR as usual! But Ujjain does have a connect to the film. That’s the place where Khaaliq was born and the day loops at the exact moment the flight crosses Ujjain (which is shown in the flight navigation system).
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brangan
November 27, 2021
sandeepkcs: Right! Two things did not work for me in that bit. One, the animation style, and two, the hurried way it was shown. It deserved more space, or else I thought, why not cut it out and just have time-loop as something “Shiva and Allah telling him to do something” (as the heroine puts it). But yeah, it’s not a deal-breaker.
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avanthika
November 27, 2021
Hi Baradwaj – I too was entertained. I have a question though (not sure if I missed the explanation): is there a time window for Simbu to reappear? Can he die and reappear after the bad guy becomes the CM or it has to be before he becomes the CM?
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intacto
November 28, 2021
We seem to be doing well with these time-loop concepts. First with Kudi Yedamaite and now Maanadu. Venkat prabhu’s best after Chennai 600028, the religion and politics neatly woven into the narrative. Good fun!
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Ravi K
December 6, 2021
I enjoyed this one. Yes, Simbu’s intro is a bit silly, but the rest of it is well-constructed and entertaining.
I could swear that one of the VFX shots of the plane flying showed the airline name as “Go Air” instead of “Shiv Air.” Did anyone else notice that or am I seeing things?
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