Director Vijay Chandar's third directorial, Sangathamizhan, stars Vijay Sethupathi, Raashi Khanna and Nivetha Pethuraj as leads while Soori, Nasser, Ashutosh Rana, Ravi Kishen, and others play crucial roles. The action film is produced by Vijaya Productions.
Going by the initial portions, Sangathamizhan can be classified as a 'mass' film that pokes fun at every trope employed by the genre. During the hero introduction scene, Murugan (Vijay Sethupathi) breaks into a play and saves an innocent girl from being molested. After saving, he falls at her feet to get her blessing. This scene could have easily been overemphasized, but Vijay Chandar decides to underplay it.
Even the comedic sidekick trope is made fun of (Soori plays the hero's second fiddle), where the usual buildup lines mouthed by such characters are followed by the hero's counterlines in this film. The story is about Murugan, an aspiring actor who falls in love with Kamalini (Raashi Khanna), daughter of an industrialist (played by Ravi Kishen), who shares a flashback with Murugan's lookalike, a do-gooder named Sangathamizhan (played by Vijay Sethupathi).
Initially, Sangathamizhan cares less about the plot and instead gives some really fun-filled sequences involving Murugan and his 'hero' friend. The film is so formulaic that you can almost hear the screenplay saying 'cut to a romantic duet'. But the narrative is completely aware of it and engages due to Vijay Sethupathi's portrayal of Murugan and his chemistry with Soori, which adds to the refreshingly lighter mood and makes you forgive the dull moments. Even the romance is quite watchable and the women are shown with dignity.
Adding to the engaging first half is the enjoyably OTT songs by Vivek-Merwin (Oh My God and Kamala are some really foot-tapping numbers). But the second half really goes against the lack of seriousness of the first half. We get to see an overlong flashback and plotlines being shoehorned into the narrative. Still, we get to see some nice moments (like the scene where Murugan meets Kamalini's father for the first time).
The second half appears as a complete contrast to the tone set by the first half. The screenplay gets overstuffed with generic moments and even more generic villains (Ashutosh Rana and Ravi Kishen hits the same hammy notes), which slows down the pacing of the film. The second half becomes an overlong fare with an incoherent twist at the end.
Sangathamizhan stays afloat primarily due to the casualness of Vijay Sethupathi's presence. The actor has added many unique flourishes to his character (Murugan isn't afraid to poke fun at himself), while Soori's performance compliments Murugan's role nicely. Raashi Khanna and Nivetha Pethuraj play their parts well. Overall, Sangathamizhan is a watchable commercial film that works for its light-hearted and enjoyable first half.