Maya - Movie Review

It’s good to see young talents coming up with some exciting movies in recent times. Karthick Subburaj (Jigarthanda), Ranjith (Madras), Amid (Rajathanthiram) and Vinodh (Sathuranga Vettai) not just captivated audience but also have taken the Tamil film industry to the next level, focusing more on the script than the actors. And here comes another young blood in the offing, Ashwin Sarawanan, who has done more than required to secure his place in the industry for the years to come with his recent outing Maya. Perhaps, this is his first attempt ever; not even a short film to his credits.

Maya Movie Review - Creatikaa

My Rating - 4.3/5

Maya, a mystery horror movie, is a classic addition to this genre with an exceptional writing and cinematography. Ashwin (story, screenplay, direction) certainly has done a great deal of research before penning down such an intriguing screenplay. The narration is what matters when it comes to horror movies and here its more than sufficient. What's more fascinating is, he left most of the portion to the audience to think and interpret instead of spoon feeding each and every concept. Remember Kamalhassan’s Uttama Villain?

Here comes the detailed review. As you know, I review movies based on the Story, screenplay, music and performances on cards.

What makes you stay seated?

The Story and Screenplay are the stand out performers in this movie more than anyone. With lucid narrative and timely twists, it just outplayed every other department. There are two stories in the movie. Vasanth (Aari), an artist, tries to unearth the mystery behind a series of uncanny incidents in his life, his best friend’s death in particular. Apsara (Nayanthara), a struggling actress and a single mother, tries to raise above her fate to bestow her child a secure living. The former being a black and white picture, certainly is an edge-of-a-seat narrative whereas the latter, a colour picture, is a poignant tale. There is a common thread that connects both of these narratives where Aari and Apsara identify that ultimate baffling rationale.

The idea of black and white picture works well as most of the sequences revolves around the darkness, the eventual space for the devil’s workshop. The clarity of the movie is never compromised as it is super-efficient, thanks to the crisp-n-crunchy dialogues and phenomenal Cinematography by Sathyan Sooriyan. Generally its believed that the music bumps ups the horror movies, but here the cinematography also joins the party. Watch out for the unexpected thrills that chills down your spine, which I don’t intend to specify here.

Music by Jon Yohan is another heavyweight in this script as it does the trick in daunting the viewers. The BGM for the devil is surprising yet interesting one and was perfectly handled by an innovative number. BGM plays a lead role in this album, besides there are two songs coming along the sequences.

The strength of the script can be derived from the depth of its characterization. Here the lead roles depicted by Aari and Nayanthara have the depth in it and was neatly performed. Nayanthara steals the show with a remarkable performance. This could be a priceless landmark in her career. The scene where she was asked to perform in a situation proves her to be an actor of class. Aari and Amzath have performed neatly in their role without crossing the limits. The script heavily depends on the expressions and the acting crew have done a fabulous job of justifying their characterisations.

What would have been better?

The first half of the movie runs at an express pace, whereas it slightly fades during the second half. Ashwin has tried his best to keep the mystery intact, but misses the panic element, especially towards the end. He should have cut short a few scenes, forest scene in particular, to reduce the movie’s length in order to maintain the pace to its entirety. Robo Shankar’s character hasn’t been established well as it is the only role in the movie that loses clarity.

Apart from these few glitches, Maya is one of the classic horror Tamil movies that falls in line with Yaavarum Nalam and Pizza. Enjoy and experience the movie in theaters as soon as possible before its been chucked out.