Review: Sketch

Film: Sketch

Cast: Vikram, Tamannaah, Sriman, Soori, R K Suresh, Harish Peraadi

Music: Thaman

Cinematography: M Sukumar

Vikram must have found playing the character of Sketch relatively easy, considering the challenging characters he has done prior to this film and the humungous efforts he has made to play those parts to perfection.

For a man, who has done demanding roles in films like Sethu, Anniyan and I, playing Sketch must have been a cakewalk. The reason is Sketch is a simple film that is set in North Madras.

True,  it does have quite a few twists and turns but to be honest, it has nothing new to offer.

It is a regular crime story, with quite a few emotionally heavy  moments in it.

Let’s get on with the story. Jain (Harish Peraadi) is a moneylender by profession. He chooses to seize vehicles of people to get them to pay off their debts to him.

Jain has his business in the North Madras region of the city, an area that is under the control of a ruthless gangster called Kumar.

There’s one person whom Jain considers his right-hand and that is Durai (Aruldoss). In fact, it is Durai who lifts vehicles for Jain.  Life goes on well for a while but then, as luck would have it, Durai loses an arm in an attack one day.

With no other go, Durai has to step down. Just when his next in command, Ravi (R K Suresh) thinks that he will be promoted to Durai’s position, Durai tells Jain that he would want his nephew Sketch to take up his position.  This leads to a heated argument between Ravi and Durai but with Jain backing Durai’s decision, Ravi has no option but to walk out in a huff.

Sketch has a close set of three friends who work with him. Together, they plan and lift vehicles of defaulters. He takes pride in the fact that he can lift vehicles at will and get people to pay up their debts.

One night, when they are having a drink, Jain tells Sketch about how his father committed suicide after losing out to gangster Kumar. The conversation veers to a point where Sketch offers to seize a car of Kumar, which the gangster considers special. Jain seizes the opportunity and throws a challenge Sketch cannot refuse. He tells him that he will reward him with a 10 sovereign chain if he manages to seize the car of the gangster and click a selfie with it.

Sketch does as he is told. But just as he is doing it, a series of developments results in Sketch having to take the car to the police station.  The cops, who have been looking to rein in Kumar, are delighted at the opportunity that has been presented to them. Kumar, however, feels insulted and decides that everybody involved in lifting his vehicle must die…

The film has got some great songs. Thaman’s music is exceptional and it is a pity that the songs haven’t got the kind of attention that they deserve. Every single number is just so cool.

Vikram, as expected, delivers a neat and commendable performance. The man, despite ageing, still looks handsome and very fit. He single-handedly carries the film on his shoulders.

However, Vikram’s mannerisms in the film seem to remind one of his performances in his earlier films. For instance, the manner in which he holds up his hand to indicate he has marked out someone to sketch, reminds one of Vikram’s performance in Gemini, in which he would often say, ‘O Podu’ using both his hands.

Then, in one of the action sequences, Vikram is seen running for a brief while, before swinging on a pole and then settling down comfortably on some stairs before giving a sound thrashing to the baddies. This reminds one of an action sequence in Saamy in which he runs from those who have been sent to kill him at the temple and then eventually bashes them up.

Tamaannaah as Ammu is gorgeous. The actress is naturally so beautiful that she does not require make up at all. Moreover, she seems to have mastered the art of emoting well and that is an added advantage. So, by and large, Tamannaah’s performance is flawless. The only place where there seems to be a problem is in the songs in which she is seen perfoming classical dances. In these portions, the make-up is excessive and her dancing, is out of sorts.

Other actors who have done a good job include Arul Doss, Sriman and Soori, who has a very limited role in this film.

Sketch has a really strong message to give but then, it comes in only the last five minutes of the film, making one wonder if the message was added as an afterthought.

On the whole, Sketch is definitely not the best film that Vikram has acted in but it certainly isn’t bad either.