Venkat Prabhu’s Gambler (2011) Movie Review

Banner: Sri Kanipakkam Ganapathi Films
Cast: Ajith, Arjun, Trisha, Lakshmi Rai, Jayaprakash and Others
Dialogues: Shashank Vennelakanti
Music: Yuvan Shankar Raja
Cinematographer: Sakthi Saravanan
Director: Venkat Prabhu
Producer: Bellamkonda Suresh

Survi Review: 2.25/5

Today, long awaited movie, Ajith’s 50th movie GAMBLER was released.Here is the review of Gambler (aka. Mankatha)….

Story-line:

The movie Gambler opens with police officer Vinayak (Ajith) who gets suspended for helping Faizal (Aravind Akash) a smuggler to escape from encounter. After suspension he starts leading life in his own way. A serious issue regarding bookies and match fixing evokes Maharashtra police and makes them stand on toes. Meanwhile Vinayak falls for Sanjana (Trisha), daughter of a powerful local gangster Arumugha Chettiyar (Jayaprakash). Arumugha plans to steal 500 crores, which was used for gambling during Indian Premier League. He appoints a gang of four men Sumanth (Vaibhav), Prem (Premji), an IIT graduate, Mahat (Mahat Raghavendra), Ganesh (Ashwin Kakumanu), a sub-inspector at Dharavi in Mumbai to steal this money. On knowing the plan made by Mahadev, Vinayak get into this project and starts leading the gang. A special CBI officer Prithviraj (Arjun) takes charge to end betting scandal in IPL cricket in Mumbai. Trouble starts after Arumuga and gang take away the Rs 500 crore cash. Both Arumugha Chettiyar and police are now on their heels. Meanwhile, Mahanth and Prem escape with the cash. It all upto Vinayak now. The battle shifts between him and Prithvi.

Performances:

Its Ajith all the way. He is simply amazing in the role of a dreaded baddie. With his usual looks sans makeup, he hogs all limelight. His one-liners brings laughter. His stunts were rocking. Arjun, a police officer , has done a wonderful role.That too the climax is too good. Both Thala Ajith & Action King Arjun rock in their roles. Vaibhav had improved a lot in acting.Premji,as usual his style of joking is present in the movie.It would had been better if some one had replaced his role, cause for such a serious role,Premji doesnt suit that much. Four actresses Trisha, Andrea, Lakshmi Roy, Anjali appears in movie, But no one’s character has given importance in the movie.

Technical:

Yuvan Shankar Raja’s music is good, but not impressive. Apart from the ‘Vilayadu Mankaatha’ and the ‘Mankaatha theme’ music, the rest of the tracks are passing clouds. Camera by Sakthi Saravanan is a big plus for the film. The tone is very unusual. Cheers to the lens man. Praveen K L and N B Srikanth’s editing could have given more cuts for some scenes. Dhayanidhi Alagiri of Cloud Nine Production values were good. Director Venkat Prabu tried to do a different screenplay with this movie and somehow he fails to produce the desired result.

Survi Verdict:

Gambler first half takes time to establish all characters and their routine romance while the second half of the film adds predictable thrills and good twist towards the end. Ajith should be appreciated for his guts to agree to act in a kind of this movie. If made well, Gambler could have done wonders at box office, but unfortunately its result is ruinous. The Venkat Prabu couldn’t handle the script well and it becomes an tedious fare. On a whole, Gambler fails to keep audiences interested in the movie.

Bottom Line: Not worth your ticket, wait for its HOME edition.

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