While Vijay fans were in the 'Ghilli' hangover, the delight for Ajith fans came the next day in the form of their all-time favorite 'Mankatha'. This Ajith starrer has rewritten many rules of Tamil cinema and is arguably the biggest game-changing movie in the last decade. Why?

Ajith's smile:

When you enter the movie hall to see your favorite star, you are bound to have certain expectations. At that time, Ajith Kumar was continuously doing some serious films and all that the ardent fans of Ajith wanted was to see their hero in a freaky, funny role with action in it. Director Venkat Prabhu, being the one to catch their pulse exactly said this in an interview before the movie's release - "Don't worry. You will see Ajith sir smiling throughout the movie while Arjun would be serious". Yes, Ajith was smiling in the entire movie and his fans too. 

Breaking every rule possible:

Tamil audience were used to seeing only 'good' heroes doing service to the heroine, family and the nation. The Ajith-VP combo had broken that formula after a long time. Yes, Ajith is a 'Mass' hero in Mankatha but he cheats his own police department and his girlfriend, kicks the heroine's father out of a car, shows his lust for money and more importantly, doesn't become a nice guy in the climax. He remains the same and this surprise has blown away the audience. 

A Venkat Prabhu game:

Who would believe if someone says Mankatha was originally not written for a Mass hero? Venkat Prabhu had Sathyaraj in his mind while writing this script and once Ajith came in, the screenplay took a complete turn and Venkat Prabhu came all guns blazing to satisfy Ajith's diehard fans and the new age cinema lovers. He made Ajith have a salt and pepper look, say his original age in a dialogue, showed Vijay's movie running in a theatre, yet made all these convincing. Choosing 'Vinayak Mahadev' as the lead character's name itself is an interesting selection. Cricket is a religion here and Venkat Prabhu was clever in having the game in the background to make an interesting screenplay. After Chennai 28 and Saroja, this was a jump into the next league for Venkat Prabhu.

Pillars of support:

Though every frame is tailor-made for Ajith, the supporting cast was used to their full potential. Actor Arjun's inclusion as a villain (?) raised the eyebrows of many and his acting was effortless. Vaibhav, Mahat, Premji, Ashwin, Jayaprakash, Anjali had their own stories to tell in the movie and that has helped immensely to enjoy Mankatha as a story. 

The Giant:

The discussion on Mankatha would never feel complete without talking about Yuvan Shankar Raja's music for the film. It is that one BGM that is still set as a caller tune by most of the Ajith fans. A lucky charm for Ajith as always, Yuvan had set the screens on fire with his theme music and is celebrated even today for his work in Mankatha.

In all the ways, Mankatha was a daring attempt by Ajith. The movie was released just after the ‘THALA’ dissolved his fan clubs in a single letter, which was a rare decision to be made by a star. As the 50th movie of the star Mankatha, was indeed a memorable celebration for his fans, as not many heroes get their 50th film to be a blockbuster. Ajith's Mankatha will be spoken about for a lot of generations to come for its unique approach to heroism and the sheer guts of its hero in breaking stereotypes.