Was Ajith Kumar the hero or villain in director Venkat Prabhu's blockbuster action thriller Mankatha (2011)? Gone are the days when one could easily tell who the protagonist and antagonist were, simply by looking at the actor depicting them. There was a time when those playing heroes kept playing heroes, and those playing villains kept playing villains. It was not just that actors were heavily typecast back then; there also was a clear, thick line dividing the ‘protagonist’ from the ‘antagonist’ in terms of characterisation. However, in recent years, we've come to understand that it was largely a matter of perspective and the so-called good deeds of the heroes weren’t always inherently right; there also were times when the villains were actually in the right. The way many of these protagonists treated the women around them, for instance, revealed that they were the real villains. But, as I said, we mostly don’t have heroes and villains anymore, not in the conventional sense. Now, they’re all just characters with varying degrees of moral ambiguity and shades of grey, much like every one of us. With that in mind, let's circle back to the initial topic and analyse: where does Good Bad Ugly star Ajith Kumar's ACP Vinayak Mahadevan IPS in Mankatha stand in the moral, ethical spectrum? The question is quite a head-scratcher, particularly since the movie doesn't actually have a hero but only a bunch of villains, with each one more cunning, callous and narcissistic than the other. Among them, he was the villain of villains; the antagonistic protagonist. Ah, yes, he was the archvillain, and what an archvillain he was! Unlike "pan-Indian" murder machines with visible daddy, mommy or girlfriend issues who are, regardless of all the atrocities, glorified to the core and positioned as protagonists, Vinayak Mahadevan was never the hero in Mankatha (Gambling). And the two people who knew that well were Ajith Kumar and Venkat Prabhu, who treated the character just the way it should be and with absolute finesse. Watch Ajith Kumar's Mankatha trailer here: Despite committing absolutely monstrous and atrocious acts throughout, characters like Devaratha Raisaar (Prabhas) in Salaar: Part 1 – Ceasefire, Ranvijay Singh (Ranbir Kapoor) in Animal and Raja Krishnappa Bairya (Yash) in the KGF movies are treated by their respective filmmakers with total compassion and are even worshipped. Irrespective of their barbarity, their directors (men, obviously) waste no opportunity to emphasise that they, at the end of the day, are heroes and good at heart (irrespective of the number of people they massacred). In Mankatha, however, Vinayak is stripped even of the benefit of the doubt towards the end. Even the few ambiguous moments and actions that once hinted at some goodness in him are ultimately disproven, revealing him as an unapologetically evil person. While in his introduction, he is shown saving a criminal, Faizal (Aravind Akash), from an attempted extrajudicial killing, we later learn that even this was part of his master plan to loot Rs 500 crore black money from the hands of Arumuga Chettiyar (Jayaprakash). Not only is he a corrupt police officer, Vinayak is an unfaithful human being too, with a loyalty only to his crime partner ACP Prithviraj (Arjun Sarja) and that too simply because they can't complete the heist without each other's help. As part of their grand and devious plan, Vinayak even emotionally manipulates Arumugam's daughter Sanjana (Trisha Krishnan) into believing that he's in love with her and plays the right cards to make her reciprocate the feelings so that he can keep a tab on her father's businesses, strengths and weaknesses. Once she is of no 'use', he mercilessly discards her. Here, neither does he completely ghost her nor end things with an apology of any sort. Instead, he sends the message to her that things between them have ended — and also his true intentions behind the entire relationship — by throwing her father out of a moving vehicle in front of her; no regrets and as the movie's tagline says, "strictly no rules". With a moral compass that cared only about himself and the money he wished to plunder, Vinayak was the quintessential villain. The personification of malice. While Mankatha was, from the start, a landmark project in his career, as it was his 50th movie, Ajith Kumar's decision to do a role that was devoid of any righteousness was also noteworthy. Although he had depicted grey-shaded roles previously too – in movies such as Vaalee (1999), Varalaru (2006) and Billa (2007) – he played more than one role in all of them, with at least one being the good guy. Hence, the Venkat Prabhu directorial was a significant leap since it had him as the definitive antagonist, with no redemption arc. While this clearly challenged the definitions and pillars of stardom in Tamil cinema, Ajith Kumar did not shy away from giving his all to the character, ultimately turning Vinayak Mahadevan into an iconic figure. Even then, one of the most significant achievements of the film was that the movie did not glorify the character or his actions. Still, Venkat managed to brilliantly celebrate Ajith Kumar and everything that made him a bonafide star, thanks in large part to Yuvan Shankar Raja's electrifying score and soundtrack. While his script treated Vinayak as the villain throughout, not offering his character even an ounce of goodness or any instance or trait that might hint at the underlying goodness in him, Ajith Kumar ensured that his performance also aligned with this. As much as he brought his A-game, celebrated all aspects of his stardom and infused the character with cuteness, swagger, style and charm when needed, Ajith Kumar also went full throttle when it came to portraying Vinayak’s absolute greyness. By embodying the out-and-out villainy of the character, he made sure that there was no doubt in anyone regarding Vinayak's (vile) nature. Thanks to Venkat's magnificent vision as a filmmaker and his spectacular screenplay, Mankatha managed to celebrate Ajith Kumar as a star without glorifying Vinayak or his actions, striking the perfect balance. The movie also underscored Ajith Kumar's mastery as a performer, emphasising that he was capable of doing more than what's typically expected of him. While Indian cinema has, over the years, witnessed several leading actors, including Amitabh Bachchan, Shah Rukh Khan, Kamal Haasan, Mammootty, Kajol, Tabu and Ramya Krishnan, playing definitive villain roles, Ajith Kumar not only entered the list of thespians but also managed to leave a lasting impact with his unabashed performance, thus highlighting how to give an honest portrayal of a wicked person without letting one's stardom overshadow or overpower the character in any manner. Cinema cannot exist in a vacuum; it’s all about the discussions that follow. In the Cinema Anatomy column, we delve into the diverse layers and dimensions of films, aiming to uncover deeper meanings and foster continuous discourses.
