Director Karthick Naren has seemingly made Maaran without any real knowledge about the inner workings of journalism as a profession. This film is a classic example of an armchair analyst passing judgments on a real issue without any real-world experience. It is too naïve to assume that editors of news publications sit in the meeting room and prioritise love affairs of celebrities over fact-based journalism and issues that matter to the public. Also, it is a little far fetched to think that an honest journalist will be rewarded with cover-page stories by rival publications, or TV news channels will heap generous praises on competition. The only thing that is missing from this fairy-tale is a unicorn spouting rainbows.
A young Mathimaaaran becomes a witness to the murder of his journalist father who was killed by a gang that was troubled by his brave reporting. Maaran (Dhanush) follows in the footsteps of his father and becomes an honest journalist. He joins a big media organisation and in no time becomes a celebrated journalist. He opens a can of worms when he performs a sting operation on a corrupt and power-hungry politician who wants to manipulate EVMs to win a by-election. Maaran fearlessly publishes a report on him, and paints a target on his back. His honesty comes to haunt his only sister, who is taken by his enemies. After witnessing the gruesome end of his sister, Maaran is overcome with a vengeance and so he begins his investigation to find the man who has caused him this irreparable loss.
The scenes are so bland that even the presence of Dhanush can’t lift our spirits. Karthick puts two bright actors, Ameer and Dhanush in a scene, and yet fails to create any sort of impact. How’s that even possible?
The makers of Maaran made the right choice by releasing it directly on an OTT platform. You would probably not appreciate the efforts that go into visiting a theatre to watch this movie. Given that on OTT we can watch it without the trouble of commute and the cost that comes with it, we may even end up not completely disliking it. Maaran is the sort of film that comes in handy when you want to kill a lazy afternoon and sleep eludes you.