Directed by Vijay Milton, Mazhai Pidikatha Manithan (The man who hates rain), is set in the Andaman and Nicobar islands and traces the story of Salim (Vijay Antony). Salim is a secret agent who is sent to the Andamans by his Chief (Sarath Kumar) after his wife is killed by counter forces. His hatred towards rainy weather stems from the fact that his wife was killed on a rainy day but being in Andamans, rains are, of course, par for the course. 

The premise

Salim is told to live a quiet invisible life but this changes when he sees a hurt beagle puppy named Hitler, and nurtures it to good health. On the island, he also befriends Burma (Pruthvi Akbar), who owns Atho restaurant with his mother (Sharanya Ponnvannan). And with Burma, Salim has run-ins with Daali (Dhananjay), a tyrannical loan shark and goon. Meanwhile, Salim meets Hitler’s owner, Sowmya (Megha Akash) and this is where the story gets interesting- Daali seems to be the common enemy for all, including Sowmya. What happens to Sowmya and how does Salim help her? How does Salim’s past catch up with him?

What works

The screenplay of Mazhai Pidikatha Manithan is written by director Vijay Milton and be clearly scores as a better director than writer. The storyline of the film is extremely flimsy and most of the first half just revolves around the puppy and what happens to it rather than the characters involved. The second half moves on to some lighter notes like romance and the eventual Salim versus Daali climax.

There are so many characters - Chief, Burma, Burma’s mother, Daali, the cop (Murli Sharma), the agency boss (Sathyaraj) and others - but none of them have any depth and don’t make any impact. And some aspects are just illogical. Daali, for instance, is a ruthless killer and yet he suddenly reforms when Salim lectures him on good and bad. Then you have Sowmya , who loses her dad and is assaulted later by Daali and yet she dreams of Salim. Sadly, there is just no emotional connect to any of the characters and despite having a good star cast, the director has failed to capitalise on it. Even Salim’s backstory and the numerous tragedies in the film don’t create any empathy. In fact, one feels more for the beagle puppy than anyone else.

Final thoughts

As for the performances, there is no singular standout one. Vijay Antony is stoic for most of the film mouthing few dialogues and Megha Akash is apt as the cute girl waiting to be rescued. Dhananjay is a top Kannada hero and one wonders why he chose to do this negative role that doesn’t do much for him.

Mazhai Pidikatha Manithan is a lacklustre film that doesn’t have much going for it. The film moves at a good pace thanks to parallel tracks but sadly, there is no cohesive strong, story to talk about.

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