New Delhi, June 6 -- Let's face facts. Mani Ratnam's vision on film is stunning. Sreekar Prasad's editing is seamless and incomparable. And Kamal Haasan might be happy to incite controversy with the film, but he's still got those acting chops. Alas, AR Rahman is the only one who does not seem to fit - the background music is so odd it is annoying at times, and the songs are forgettable (despite Sanya Malhotra's pointless song appearance).

The film opens where Rangaraya Sakthivel is telling us how he has survived many encounters with death. The black and white telling of his backstory and a young Kamal Haasan is unmissable. Here is where betrayal begins. Here is also where Sakthivel saves a little kid, who in turn saves the gangster. The ...