More mask, less task

Director: Mysskin

Cast: Jiiva, Prakash Raj, Narain, Akkineni Nageswara Rao, Nassar, Anupama Kumar, Pooja Hegde

Rating: 2.5 / 5

'Mugamoodi' which has hit the screens amid great expectations turns out to be an average fare, as the story is pretty old and the screenplay is predictable, at least in most parts.

No doubt that Mysskin has added his touch to the film and Jiiva has come out with his best performance till date. But still, the film fails to impress big time.

At the same time, there is no denial, that the movie can serve the entertainment appetite of the audience, whose only aim is to kill a couple of hours at a cinema hall.

The film is about a youngster, who prefers to be called as Lee (Bruce Lee). Since, he is a great fan of the actor. Lee learns kung fu from an expert (Selva), and the former is inspired a lot by the latter.

One day, Lee meets Sakthi (Pooja Hegde) and falls for her. Meanwhile, some thefts and murders take place in the city, courtesy Dragon Angusamy (Narain) and his gang. 

In a bid to impress Sakthi, Lee appears in a different costume, with a mask. Suddenly he is forced to clash with one of Angusamy's men. He becomes popular with the whole media hailing him as 'Mugamoodi'.

A series of events leads to a bloody battle between Lee and Dragon. Who emerges a winner at the end forms the crux of the film. Jiiva and Narain are the two biggest strengths of Mugamoodi. While the former shines as a callous youngster in the beginning and as an angry young man towards the end, the latter, as a cool baddie, steals the show. 

Beautiful Pooja Hegde has got less scope to perform. Nasser as the heroine's father and a top police officer delivers a matured performance.

Music by Kay is good, especially the background score. Sathya has captured almost the whole movie in the night and he has added a new colour to it. Gaugin as the editor is impressive.

Despite all these strengths, 'Mugamoodi' lacks some essential elements of a super hero film. It is too lengthy and the scenes move on a slow note. As a result, we get a feeling of watching an action sequence in slow motion.