If you, like many others, had been excited about Maari after watching its trailer, be prepared for disappointment. Almost all the best bits from the film are already in the trailer and the film clearly lacks the crackling energy that we see in the trailer. Maari largely feels like one huge build-up without any proper pay-off. The story is set in a slum, where Maari (Dhanush, infusing the character with life), a small-time thug, whose heart is in pigeon racing. His rival is Bird Ravi (Mime Gopi), who has been completely overshadowed by Maari, who has become the go-to guy for a bigger don, Velu Annan (Shanmugarajan). Enter a new inspector, Arjun Kumar (Vijay Yesudas, making his debut), who is determined to crack an age-old murder that happens to be the one which gave Maari his fearsome reputation. We also get a sub-plot involving red sanders, probably to make this story seem topical. Perhaps, after Vaaya Moodi Pesavum, which was a half-silent movie, Balaji Mohan wanted to do something relatively simple and chose this script, which has its fair share of cliches. The director seems to be aware of this and he tries to keep things light and never lets scenes get overtly dramatic (in this, he is helped to a great extent by Robo Shankar, who is terrific as Maari's comic sidekick Sanikizhamai), but this approach doesn't suit this material, which is essentially a fawning-over-the-hero…

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