Monster Movie Synopsis: A compassionate man faces a test of his faith from a rat that shows no sign of leaving his home.

Monster Movie Review: Sometimes, the things we learn when we are young leave a lasting impression. And that’s what happens with Anjanam Azhagiya Pillai (SJ Suryah), who is taken in by the message of compassion he receives from an elder and starts following the teachings of Vallalar in his life. Years later, Pillai is now an engineer with the electricity board, and it is this compassionate quality in him that turns his life for the better and worse.

The good that happens is Meghala (Priya Bhavani Shankar). She fails to turn up after getting cold feet when Pillai and her family visit her place seeking an alliance. But she reaches out to him to apologise, and falls for him seeing his benevolent nature.

As for the bad, it arrives in the form of a rat – a very determined rodent with a special fondness for the rusk that Pillai snacks on. It turns his nights into a nightmare and his newly bought flat into a battleground. He tries to get rid of it to no avail. Meanwhile, the flat’s previous occupant happens to be a smuggler, who has ingeniously hidden some valuable diamonds inside a rusk and badly wants to retrieve it!

Like SS Rajamouli’s Naan Ee, the high-concept premise of Monster seems quite simple, but it is the inventive storytelling, credible performances, and proficient technical work that elevate it into the good-natured fun that it is. And in SJ Suryah, he has the right actor to make these moments work effectively. The actor’s animated features, especially, are put to great effect in the comic sequences. One visual gag that involves Sivaji Ganesan in Mirudanga Chakravarthy is laugh-out-loud funny.

The chief weak link here is the antagonist’s character, played by Anil Kumar, which is somewhat bland and passive. We wish it had been quirkier. We also miss the brisk storytelling of the initial portions, particularly in the second half, and at times, the events start to feel repetitive. Thankfully, Nelson infuses his tale with equal doses of humour and warmth and turns the film into an endearing one.

UNDER PROGRESS