Mersal

 

Mersal is a 2017 Indian Tamil-language action thriller film^[6] directed by Atlee and co-written by Atlee, K. V. Vijayendra Prasad and S. Ramana Girivasan, in charge of the dialogues, and produced by Thenandal Studio Limited, thus becoming their 100th production. The film stars Vijay in a triple role with S. J. Surya, Kajal Aggarwal, Samantha Akkineni and Nithya Menen.

The story revolves around two brothers; one is a magician avenging his parents' deaths and medical crimes and the other, a reputed doctor who charges meagre amounts from his patients. The film's principal photography commenced on 1 February 2017, at Chennai, and filming took place on Gdańsk, Poland and Jaisalmer, Rajasthan. The background score and soundtrack album were composed by A. R. Rahman, while the cinematography was done by G. K. Vishnu and edited by Ruben.

Mersal was released worldwide on 18 October 2017, coinciding with Diwali and opened to positive reviews with critics praising the performance of Vijay, A. R. Rahman's soundtrack, the cinematography, the social message and Atlee's direction, but criticised the cliché plot and excessive length. It is also a recipient of various accolades. The film was a commercial success, grossing ₹260 crore (US$37 million) worldwide, becoming the fifth-highest grossing South Indian film and Vijay's highest-grossing film in his career at that time. The film's dubbed Telugu version Adirindhi released on 9 November 2017. The film completed 100-day theatrical run on 25 January 2018. The film was released on 6 December 2018 in China by HGC Entertainment. Due to demand, the film was screened at the largest cinema theatre in Europe Grand Rex, France. The film was screened at the Hainan International Film Festival in Hainan, China and at the Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival in South Korea.

 

Plot

An ambulance driver, a broker, a hospital worker, and a surgeon are abducted at dawn, which is traced to Dr. Maaran, a doctor from Chennai known for providing treatment to all at just ₹5. Maaran is arrested and interrogated by Ratnavel "Randy", a police officer who is assigned the case. Maaran explains his motive for the abductions; the four were responsible for the death of the auto driver's daughter and subsequent suicide of his wife, Selvi, due to their greed for money and negligence in providing proper healthcare. He gives Randy the locations of his hostages but asserts that he had already killed them simultaneously using contraptions.

Maaran reveals that he is not Maaran but his doppelgänger Vetri, a magician. Vetri was also responsible for the death of Dr. Arjun Zachariah, a corrupt doctor who was killed during a stage performance in Paris two years earlier. Dr. Daniel Arokiaraj, another corrupt doctor and the head of the state's medical council, had been associated with Arjun who sees Maaran's inexpensive healthcare as a threat to his flourishing hospital business and decides to kill Maaran using his goons and one-armed henchman Kasi but is saved in the nick of time by Vetri, who knocks Maaran unconscious and swaps places with him, providing clues to the police which led to his arrest. Maaran is rescued, while Vetri, manages to escape from Randy. Later, Maaran confronts Vetri, believing him to be the cause of all his problems. Vadivu, Maaran's compounder, and also Vetri's assistant intervenes and explains to Maaran why Vetri is targeting doctors indulging in corrupt medical practices in general and Daniel and Arjun in particular.

Maaran is the elder son of Vetrimaaran, a village wrestler and chieftain from the 1970s and Aishwarya "Aishu". Vetrimaaran, being referred to as "Thalapathy" by his villagers due to his altruistic nature, decides to build a temple in his area and holds a large scale event with a festive mode. However, a fire breaks out, injuring many and killing two children due to lack of mobility. By the advice of Aishu, Vetrimaaran had established a hospital with the help of a younger Daniel and Arjun in his village Manoor in Madurai district and made chief doctors, while Vetrimaaran managed the hospital. However, it soon turned out that Daniel and Arjun were money-minded misanthropists and performed a Caesarean section on Aishu when she was in labor with her second child, to extract more money from Vetrimaaran, even though she could deliver the child normally. Aishu lost a lot of blood during the operation, and along with an overdose of anesthesia she dies while the child was declared stillborn. When Vetrimaaran found out how Aishu had died, he went to confront Daniel, but was attacked by empty bottles. Vetrimaaran fights but in the end gets stabbed to death by Kasi, but just before he died, he amputated Kasi's arm and placed an unconscious Maaran (who had been struck on the head with a glass bottle) safely on a Chennai-bound lorry. Daniel admits that he was the one who set fire to the temple and ruthlessly killed those children so he could set up the hospital just to rob and kill everyone; thus Vetrimaaran swears that one day Daniel will pay for his misdeeds. Maaran lost his memory and was unable to recollect anything that happened before passing out due to the impact of the bottle on his head. After killing Vetrimaaran, Daniel and Arjun embezzled money in medical service to consolidate their dictatorship over the years, while creating a massive genocide from beyond.

Meanwhile, Vetrimaaran's second child was not stillborn; he miraculously survived and this child was Vetri and Vadivu, their paternal uncle (Vadivu is the younger brother of Vetrimaaran) took care of him. Both were adopted by a famous magician Salim Ghosh, and it was from him that Vetri learned all his magic tricks. Vadivu explains that by seeing both Vetri and Maaran, it reminded him of the qualities of his brother; Vetri had his anger and sense of justice and Maaran had his sense of selfless service. Upon hearing Vadivu's story, Maaran reconciles with him and Vetri and takes his place when the police arrive. With Vetri (who is actually Maaran) seemingly in custody, Daniel meets him in prison and expresses his hatred and contempt for all humans and contemplates on misusing medical industry for his personal gains. Meanwhile, Daniel's nephew Sesha tries to make a deal with Maaran (who is actually Vetri) to shut down his practice. However, when they both learn the truth, Vetri slits Sesha's hand. Daniel rushes to Vetri's hideout. Vetri defeats all of Daniel’s henchman and injures Daniel with a glass bottle but just then Kasi crashes a bus into Vetri making him faint. In the truck is an unconscious Maaran who got involved in an accident orchestrated by Daniel. Maaran wakes Vetri up but as Vetri is injured Maaran goes and kills Kasi by himself. Just before Daniel can strike Maaran, he and Vetri team up and kill Daniel.

Later, Vetri is arrested for his role in the murders of all six people killed and is sentenced to life in prison. Before leaving, he gives a press conference justifying his actions by exposing corrupt medical practices and embezzlement of money in the field; he adds that his endeavours will continue until the whole system is reformed. In prison, Vetri watches a news report in which despite his efforts, another young girl in Odisha had died from negligent medical treatment. On hearing this, Vetri escapes using his magic tricks and continues his mission. In a mid-credits scene, Maaran has conferred a statewide recognized medical counselor post, which he accepts.

 

Cast

·         Vijay in a triple role as

o    Vetrimaaran, a village wrestler, commonly referred by the people as "Thalapathy" and who gets killed by Daniel. Maaran and Vetri's biological father.

o    Vetri, Vetrimaaran's younger son, a magician and Maaran's younger brother who gets arrested for his role doctor assassin in the murders. He is younger than Maaran by 5 years.

o    Dr. Maaran, Vetrimaaran's elder son, a doctor who serves people for just 5 rupees and gets conferred a statewide medical counselor post.

·         S. J. Surya as Daniel Arockiyaraj, a greedy and evil doctor turned dictator who killed Vetrimaaran and Aishwarya to grab power

·         Kajal Aggarwal as Anu Pallavi, Vetri's love interest, a doctor and assistant of Arjun Zachariah

·         Samantha Akkineni as Tara, Maaran's fiancée and a media reporter

·         Nithya Menen as Aishwarya "Aishu" Vetrimaaran, Vetrimaaran's wife who dies in a hospital due to blood loss and overdose of anaesthesia. Maaran and Vetri's biological mother.

·         Vadivelu as Vadivu, Vetri's assistant and Maaran's compounder (their paternal uncle) and Vetrimaaran's brother

·         Sanoop as Local Boy

·         Sathyaraj as DC Rathnavel "Randy", an officer from the Tamil Nadu Police

·         Kovai Sarala as Sarala, Maaran's adoptive mother who gets taken hostage by Daniel

·         Hareesh Peradi as Arjun Zachariah, Daniel's friend and another corrupt doctor who gets killed by Vetri's magic trick performance

·         Sathyan as Maniya, Rathnavel's assistant

·         Rajendran as Health Minister

·         Yogi Babu as Nolan

·         Kaali Venkat as Poongodi's father

·         Devadarshini as a nurse

·         Surekha Vani as a nurse

·         Misha Ghoshal as Tara's friend

·         Shivani Murali as Paapu, Anu Pallavi's friend

·         Sreenath Bhasi as Colombian Manager Vishnu

·         Honey Rose as Suarez'sISsz' Sister Pareena

·         Master Akshath as Young Maaran

·         Bharath Raj as Sesha, Daniel Arokiyaraj's nephew

·         Priya as Tara's mother

·         Sangili Murugan as Salim Ghosh

·         Senthi Kumari as Selvi

·         Seeni Amma as Chitti Kuruvi, Vetrimaaran's mother

·         Kamaraj as Kasi, Daniel's henchman whose arm was cut off by Vetrimaaran

·         Abdool as Vetrimaaran's friend

·         Thavasi as a priest

·         Sai Dheena as a prisoner

·         Pasanga Sivakumar as the hospital HR

·         Pandian as a police officer

·         Madras Central Gopi as a show host

·         Madras Central Sudhakar as a show contestant