Hari's Reviews
Suyetchai MLA (2006)
Created: Sat Mar 20 21:13:14 2010 | Last modified: Sat Mar 20 21:17:39 2010
Rating: 
Year: 2006
Language: Tamil
Starring: Sathyaraj, Goundamani, Nasser, Prakashraj, Thilagan
Direction: Guru Dhanapal
Music: Sabesh, Murali
"Suyetchai MLA" is a political parody movie and Sathyaraj is in his element in a movie that portrays the state of politics in India and particularly Tamil Nadu. "Suyetchai" means "Indepedent" in Tamil, and this movie is about a man who contests as an independent MLA (not attached to any party) and manages to become the Chief Minister of his state. This is a fun movie and while the issues highlighted are real and genuine enough (corruption in politics, power games, the politician-criminal nexus and so on) it deals with these issues in essentially a satirical manner.
The story is simple enough: Sathyaraj, as Nambiraj, is an political novice who manages to climb to the top of the political game essentially through a series of intrigues and circumstances which ultimately lands him in the Chief Minister's seat. There are two rival political factions which try to woo him and he unscrupulously sells himself to the highest bidder as they are desperate to form the government. Unfortunately for them, Nambiraj is not a puppet figurehead and throws his weight around in an effort to cleanse the system. He wants to eradicate corruption and actually serve the people who voted him to power. This is obviously to the distaste of every political leader regardless of party colour. What follows is a series of hilarious capers as Nambiraj (with his sidekick Visky, played by Goundamani) engages in a battle of wits with his party boss (Prakashraj) and frustrates him. However, in the end, he is beaten at his own game as the political rivals join hands to bring about his downfall. Although he falls, he makes his point about the filth in the system. However, when fresh elections are announced, things go back to square one and Nambiraj is back to the status of a common man. The end message seems to be a cynical one: "the more things change, the more they stay the same" at least as far as politics in concerned.
The movie has a simple script and realism takes a back seat, but what makes it enjoyable is the relevance to current politics and the pointed targetted humour which is obviously aimed at real-life political figures. Goundamani's humour adds a touch of class and his dialogues evoke natural laughter as he follows Nambiraj around. The scene where Nambiraj gets arrested and Visky is also taken along by the police for questioning is a classic! Even thinking about that particular scene evokes a smile. Unnecessary frills are kept to a minimum and the movie proceeds at a pace that is eminently viewable while not rushing along at breakneck speed. There are some plot-holes though and some story elements which seem promising in the beginning, break off abruptly. The music is nothing much to talk about and there is no scope for any romance in this kind of a movie.
I recommend it for pure entertainment with plenty of political humour.