Actor Arun Vijay is certainly carrying a rich experience of being in the Tamil Cinema industry. He has been active for about 25 years and of these years, he struggled nearly for 20 years to cement and to deserve him a place in Cinema and he has been bestowing with success in recent years. The more success he attained, the more careful and cautious he became...Since his recent victory, he has been very careful in choosing the stories and roles and here comes his latest movie 'Mafia- chapter 1'...his second movie after 'Thadam', that was released last year. Mafia- chapter 1 is the second movie for Director Karthik Naren, who has grabbed stable attention from Tamil audience through his first movie 'Dhuruvangal Pathinaaru'. By hitting the screens on Friday (21/02/2020) with full of expectations, has Mafia done justice for the expectations? Let's review what has it got...

Aryan (Arun Vijay) is a young officer of Chennai's Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB). He is more sincere and committed to the work with the motive of abolishing the drugs and narcotics that devastate the lives of young generations. However, he can't able to get close to the circle of the drug cartels. Arun Vijay has a team of two officers - Priya Bhavani Shankar and the other officer. The Higher officer who has piled up with the investigative documents against the drug trafficking mafias was suddenly murdered. In line with that, Arun Vijay's closest aide was also killed and after back to back murders, Arun Vijay expedites the investigation. The rest of the story shows whether he located the drug mafia and whether he abolished drug trafficking and supply.

The movie starts by introducing the grounds of drug trafficking, types of drugs, the mechanisms of mafia networks, and the properties used by the mafias. Arun Vijay has got a stylish introduction and opening song- the one which he didn't get before in any of his movies. The classy creation of the introduction and his attire has largely attracted the audience. The opening scenes of the movie gears up the interest as it travels with the series of murders, its puzzling background and the techniques used by Arun Vijay to probe the killings. Jakes Bejoy's music plays a strong role in making these scenes interesting. The movie steals and keeps the interest of the audience towards every step of Arun Vijay and his direct meeting with Prasanna, the villain. The first half has presented with slow accelerating scenes that ignited the expectations and the first half ends with annoyance rather than feeding the expectations.

The second half has rolled with Tom and Jerry game. Although it was interesting to watch, it ain't peaked up to the expected level of what the audience had as it shows that the world wide issue has been dealing inside the small circle. The twist at the final stage of the movie had brought the surprise element but it, however, failed to erase the disappointment the audience had on the whole movie.

Arun Vijay's acting and appearance show that he has been perfectly molding himself. He efficiently fits into the opening scene and the song and he strongly portrays the tenuous villain-ism. Prasanna suits the role of the wealthy villain and his soft speech and smart villain-ism attract the audience. However, the less interesting, fewer juncture scenes of the stylish actor and villain had poured in more disappointment. Priya Bhavani Shankar performs stylish stunts and her acting in the noticeable role must be appreciated.

Gokul Benoy's cinematography and Sreejith Sarang's editing were class and done justice. The Cinematography has increased the momentum in the fight and chase scenes while Jakes Bejoy's background music had kept the suspense thriller moment alive throughout the movie. In one way, the background music at the opening scenes that spurred up the expectations had, however, presented the disappointment in the final stage. Director Karthick Naren has moved the screenplay close to reality and the movie has the impact of Narcotics web series and the director revealed the Narcotics base by keeping the Narcotics music as the hero's ringtone. The twist at the climax of 'Mafia - chapter 1' erupted the expectations of chapter 2. The second chapter must carry and present a more interesting and curious story that would make Mafia, an unforgettable journey for Arun Vijay and the fans.