Tamil Cinema in recent times has rediscovered the spy genre, we have seen it with Vijay‘s Beast (2022), Kamal‘s Vikram (2022), Suriya‘s Kaapaan (2019) and now Sardar (2022). 
In a dual role, Karthi has done a fine job in this spy thriller, Sardar (2022). This, and the focus on a single theme: exposing the bottled water mafia, made this film by Director P S Mithran, enjoyable.
Raashii Khanna is the female lead, with yesteryears actress Laila playing an important role. They are joined by Munishkanth in a character role and Youtube fame Master Rithvik, who delights us with his charm. Rajisha Vijayan, an actress from Malayalam is a promising addition to Tamil cinema.
The first half was about a police inspector Vijay (played by Karthi) who carries a scar from his childhood. The inspector runs his own social media cell to create an image for himself and acquire followers – these were relatable and indicative of the times we live in today. The way he handles crisis and protests though familiar has been scripted well and humanises the character, there is no heroism here. This brings out the contrast to the second role, of a spy, who is almost a superhero.
Karthi sports over half-a-dozen appearances and he manages to convince us in most of them. I liked the one where he impersonates a Pakistani soldier in their own camp during a critical mission and the Lord Muruga character played onstage. The sequence where an Indian spy infiltrates across the border to an enemy camp and manages to steal the information was good. Similar was the Bangladesh prison unrest action sequence.
For a Kollywood film, the climax scene happening inside a large water dam was created and picturised very well, kudos to the team and to George C Williams, the cinematographer. G V Prakash‘s background score adds the momentum and suspense element needed for this genre.
Nothing unusual here, still Sardar delivers.
சர்தார் (2022)
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