Arun Mtheshwaran: A name to be remembered! He hadn’t done such a big project before, and hence Captain Miller was approached with the utmost curiosity by filmgoers. But Bang!, we can almost see Arun coming out of the dramatic smoke effect with his hands held up in the air, victoriously screaming, ‘That’s how its done, Bit*hes!’.
Synopsis
Set in the 1930s, Analeesan, aka Eesa, joins the British Army because he feels that’s the only place he can find respect’ for himself. Being from an ‘oppressed’ community, he is not pleased with the way the King and his subjects treat the people. Unfortunately, after being named ‘Miller’ in the British Army, Eesa is forced to be a part of a brutal massacre of Indian protestors. Eesa turns against the British as “Captain Miller” and anyone standing in the way of his people’s peaceful existence because of the guilt he feels for taking part in the massacre of his own people.
Making
Captain Miller stands tall when it comes to making. Arun Matheswaran should take a bow for handling such a magnum opus and delivering it with ease. The movie looks huge right from the beginning, and so does the production value. The sets erected to replicate the bygone era of the 1930s have worked really well, except for the temple structure. On close-up’s, the temple structure looked fake multiple times. Ignoring that one flaw, everything looked so convincing, and the color tone contributed a lot to the screenplay. Timely injections of high-octane stunts made sure the cinemas erupted with whistles and claps.
There are no forceful injections of star-studded dialogues or songs anywhere in the movie. Since the script is entirely emotional, we can feel the characters’ intensity whenever there is a “high” moment on screen. If the first half is mostly dominated by a slow-to-average-paced screenplay, the second half is engulfed with more gripping and dramatic high elements until the climax.
Music
GV Prakash is the biggest backbone of Captain Miller, without doubt. Right from the start, his composition elevates the movie to the highest level. GV’s scores contribute well to all the drama happening onscreen, and he also makes sure that the speakers are set ablaze to deliver enough goosebumps onscreen. Rather than mindlessly playing loud music, GV had used a score that blended well with the olden times as depicted in the story, and the folksy music along with drums was more than enough to portray Dhanush as a larger-than-life character onscreen.
Performances
There is no need to specifically mention Dhanush here. If provided with such strong, performance-oriented roles, the actor is well-known for engulfing its essence and bringing out his best as the character. He was as outstanding as Captain Miller and Eesa. The transition from an innocent guy to one of the deadliest men was just remarkable. The portrayal of rage and guilt was handled with ease by Dhanush, who was a core pillar of the movie.
Priyanka Mohan’s character was a pleasant surprise in the movie. Her presence in the movie looked not so convincing from the visuals in the trailer, but in the movie, she just got to deliver her career-best performance. Priyanka had been provided with an important and impactful character, which she delivered in a very convincing manner.
Shivrajkumar does what he does best in Captain Miller: steal the show. Once Shivrajkumar is onscreen, his screen presence itself is so impactful that his performance becomes a bonus to the audience. Apart from them, Sundeep Kishan, Aditi Balan, John Kokken, Nivedita Satish, etc. have all done their roles really well without leaving a frown. A special mention goes to Elango Kumaravel and Kaali Venkat for their portrayal of two strong roles that decided the tide of the story.
Verdict
Captain Miller had action and drama blend really well in abundance, with an outstanding background score by GV, stellar performances by the cast, and commendable artwork. In short, it is made for big screens. Go for it!
Rating: 8/10