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Vijay Sethupathi’s Hindi debut film Mumbaikar is currently available for streaming on Jio Cinema. It is the official remake of Lokesh Kanagaraj’s Maanagaram. It also stars Hridhu Haroon, Vikrant Massey, and Tanya Maniktala in other lead roles. Let’s see how it is.

 

Story:

The lives of four totally unrelated people get interwoven in the financial capital of India. A carefree youngster (Vikrant Massey), an aspiring don Mannu (Vijay Sethupathi), a zealous youngster (Hridhu Haroon), and a cab driver (Sanjay Mishra) cross paths unexpectedly, which leads to a huge mess. What is it? How did their lives get affected? This forms the crux of the story.

 

Plus Points:

Vijay Sethupathi is a bundle of talent, and the actor never fails to entertain even if films fail. In Mumbaikar, he amuses big time with his comedy timing. His dialogue delivery is adorable, and Vijay Sethupathi grabs our attention in all his scenes.

Mirzapaur fame Vikrant Massey is good in his role as a carefree youngster. He reprised Sundeep Kishan’s role in this remake version and did a pretty good job. Tanya Manikatla, as Vikrant’s love interest, is decent in her role.

Hridhu Haroon also scores well in his Hindi film debut. Sachin Khedekar and Ranvir Shorey are alright in their respective roles. The last half an hour of the movie has gripping moments and is also loaded with fun.

 

Minus Points:

Maanagaram was realistic right from the word go, but this isn’t the case with this Hindi remake. Mumbaikar gives an artificial feel, as the setup and its world have not been established well initially. The way the characters are introduced is pretty bad.

One more best part about Maanagaram is that it had that suspenseful mood throughout the film, and Mumbaikar stumbles in this aspect. The Hindi version failed to retain the essence of the original. There was more scope for generating good emotions through Sanjay Mishra’s character, but the makers didn’t utilize this properly.

The storytelling is very inconsistent in the first hour, and the smooth transition from one scene to another is missing. Hence it gives a feeling of watching some random scenes initially, and thus the first half becomes a bumpy ride. There are flashes of brilliance with regard to humor, but the movie doesn’t rise above an extent due to its writing.

 

Technical Aspects:

The background score by Salil Amrute is below-par as it fails to provide any thrills. Santosh Sivan’s cinematography is okay. The production values are decent, and the editing could have been much better, especially in the first half.

Coming to the director, Santosh Sivan, he did an underwhelming job with the movie. The intriguing feel one would get while watching Maanagaram is missing in this remake version. However, the performances of the lead cast and the final act make Mumbaikar an okayish film. Himanshu Singh’s dialogues are fine, but his screenplay doesn’t make a mark.

 

Verdict:

On the whole, Mumbaikar is an underwhelming remake of Maanagaram that largely benefits from Vijay Sethupathi’s stellar act. Vikrant Massey and others are good in their respective roles, but Mumbaikar doesn’t entirely succeed in retaining the essence of the original version. Those who watched Maanagaram might not like Mumbaikar, and it ends up being a strictly okay watch for others.

123telugu.com Rating: 2.5/5

Reviewed by 123telugu Team