On surface level, Mugamoodi (Mask), from the acclaimed director Myshkin, sure poses as a bland name for a superhero movie. Anand (a) Lee (Jiiva) the man, who would adorn the coveted mask in the movie, is a loafer to his father’s eyes and the world which consists of his girl. But according to him, he is a dreamer who wants to make it big in the world by doing something that would require his complete soul to be involved & not just a 9-5 of his time.

From the many characters and the other unlikely ones (especially Anand’s grandfather scientist), one could sense a pattern of sorts emerge from the way they behave. It is as though when Myshkin wanted to make a super-hero flick, his dystopian characters (the ones that we associate him with in his earlier ventures) decided to wear a mask and fill in for the requisite roles of a super-hero flick.

This could well be the real purpose of naming the movie as Mugamoodi, the mask that Myshkin’s world wears to enter the super-hero world; the point being so extensively explained in the song 'vaayamoodi summa iruda'. As Anand's friends start to sing the song which would advise about his dazed state of mind after love at first sight, Myshkin just lets his hero jump into Swiss alps, ripping away from his roots and make it into a mere romantic number. Unfortunately, though he stands in a picturisque location, his heart still thinks and talks in a way only people in his world do.

For a super-hero movie to stay in our mind, it needs that extra special writing, which Myshkin somehow managed in the first half by borrowing elements from his Hollywood counterparts. Albeit being able to accustom to the 'what if Myshkin's brand of characters were set in a super-hero plot', as the movie moved-on from the build-up phase and stepped into serious 'super-hero' action, I couldn’t stand the travesty. From being an inspired effort, the film became a spoof of the American heroes; especially at the fag-end of the tale where we are confused whether to laugh or shout with anger over the happenings on the screen.

Looking back, the warning which Anand’s friends gave him during the 'vaayamoodi summa iruda' song, could actually be for Myshkin, who intentionally deviated from his roots, then on, into a field he couldn’t penetrate.

This review is by guest reviewer Harish S Ram. Harish S Ram is a self-indulgent film analyst who has a penchant for translating his opinions on the visual medium into the print medium. It so happens that he resides in the brain centre of South Indian cinema, Chennai. When not pondering over films, he is a part time automobile engineer and a full-time blogger. Harish S Ram also blogs at http://harishfilmviews.blogspot.in/.