Mankatha

“Mankatha” (2011), directed by Venkat Prabhu, is a Tamil-language action thriller starring Ajith Kumar, Arjun Sarja, Trisha Krishnan, and Lakshmi Rai. The movie centers on the story of a suspended cop who goes undercover with a crime syndicate to rob them of ₹500 crore of dirty gambling cash, only for him to have his own plan to steal it all himself.

Corrupt and cunning ACP Vinayak Mahadevan, who saves a smuggler from arrest, is suspended from the police force. On his way, he encounters a band of four men: a thief, Sumanth; a robber, Ganesh; a wannabe murderer, Mahat; and an assassin, Prem, all of whom team up to rob ₹500 crores from a gangster, Arumuga Chettiyar. Vinayak joins them with the secret plan of offing them and taking all the booty for himself. Immediately following the heist’s success, things turn nasty when Mahat and Prem abandon their stay-at-home comrades to make off with the fortune. In the meantime, Faizal and Chettiyar begin tracking them down one by one. After Sumanth gets arrested and rescued by Vinayak, he eventually joins the opposition against him. Until such time as more rival betrayals and murders are realized, the majority of all gang members are eliminated. In a climactic final battle showdown between Vinayak and ACP Prithviraj, the film concludes with an explosion that seemingly kills the two men.

With the help of Ganesh’s sister, Praveen, an undercover officer, follows Ganesh’s trail to Thailand but is shocked to find Vinayak alive. It turns out that Vinayak and Prithviraj have been friends from their college days, and they planned the whole heist together, faking Vinayak’s death and killing off all loose ends, including Ganesh. The money that was stolen is now held securely by the Bank of England. Just as Praveen begins to make his move, Vinayak reverses course to announce that the game is very much over at last.

“Mankatha” is a raw, electrifying thriller with enough double-crosses and biting gallows humour to eat through reams of celluloid. Ajith is in top form as the morally ambiguous anti-hero and a crackling, stylish narration that constantly keeps you guessing. With an all-star cast and a happy ending, it’s the fearless, character-driven meditation on loss and remorse that action needs, keeping you guessing until the final credits, making this a movie that anyone who loves action should see.