M.G.R. is a magical word in Tamil Nadu, representing the former Chief Minister and film star. The film MGR Magan (எம்.ஜி.ஆர் மகன்) available on Disney+ Hotstar, getting my Raw rating, directed by Ponram and starring M.Sasikumar, has nothing to do with the charismatic leader and is just a clickbait masquerading as a film. This is a half-witted comedy flick that I shouldn’t be liking, but I did, even laughing in a few places.
M.G.Ramasamy (played by Sathyaraj) is a respected village ayurvedic healer, who has strong differences with his son Anbalipu Ravi (M.Sasikumar). A young lady, Anu Priya comes with her family and stays with them to get her father cured of paralysis. And as written in Tamil cinema puranas, the educated city girl falls in love with the dropout Ravi. Apart from the father-son tussles from time to time, there is no other story in the film. The humour track is provided by Ravi’s uncle Agnishwaran, played well by Samuthirakani, a refreshing change from his regular intellectual-social-worker roles. Singampuli has been given a supporting role and Motta Rajendran appears in two scenes, with both unfortunately making no real contributions.
As an add-on, there is a track of the villain (Pala. Karuppiah) and his son who are trying to usurp an herbal mountain. While there are the mandatory 2 to 3 fight sequences with the villain gang and the father-son duo, the villains, to my great relief, play a sensibly subdued part in the story.
It was uneasy to watch Sasikumar dancing duets and courting “TikTok” Mirnalini Ravi, who is nearly half his age. While casting younger female actors made sense in the bygone era of theatrical releases, where the audience was primarily composed of young bachelors; with the rise of OTT, the demographics that Indian cinema caters to has expanded to include the entire family. It is thus, long overdue, that Indian heroes should start looking for female leads who are better suited to the story rather than simply being their arm candy. 
MGR Magan (எம்.ஜி.ஆர் மகன்)
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