In the first half, the director takes his time to set up the milieu and the characters, which include Karnan's side-kick of sorts Yeman Thatha (Lal, in another empathetic performance after last week's Sulthan), his unmarried elder sister Padmini (Lakshmi Priyaa Chandramouli, effective), who is the family's breadwinner, his love interest Draupathi (Rajisha Vijayan, solid in her Tamil debut), her friend who is about to enter college (Gouri Kishan), her brother (Yogi Babu, who gets to play a character rather than a comedian), his docile father (Poo Ram) and the village elder Dhuryodhanan (GM Kumar) among others. It is quite similar to the conflict within his Karnan, who fights for the public good and also for personal reasons. On the surface, Karnan might seem like a familiar tale of struggle between the oppressed and oppressor, but Mari Selvaraj's detailing makes the film feel both unique and universal at the same time. A bus is trashed, prompting the cops, led by the egoistic officer Kannapiran (Natty), to retaliate.
Matters come to a head when Karnan, an angry, young man from Podiyankulam, who is waiting to be selected in the army, decides to take things in his own hands. Their powerful men (obviously of the dominant caste) of their neighbouring village, Melur, use this as a means to keep them dependant on them. The plot revolves around Podiyankulam, a poor village of people belonging to the oppressed communities which is refused a bus stop. The film then goes back by a few years, to 1997, to narrate how Karnan became his people's hero, how oppression can be insidious, and how the bureaucracy stands by the side of the oppressor and even takes part in the oppression.
We see who Karnan is through the tattoos that the people sport, and the painting that a painter does with fire. We do not actually see his face rather, we see his feet (splayed with blood, and trampled by the boots of cops), his hands (handcuffed), and his head (covered by a black cloth). And Mari Selvaraj establishes the mythical status of his protagonist right away. We see an entire village praying for the return of Karnan (Dhanush). The film then cuts to Santhosh Narayanan's now iconic Kanda Vara Sollunga song. There is no divine intervention in fact, the girl dies, and becomes a Goddess - Kaattu Pechi! Theni Eswar's camera rises above the ground and goes up higher and higher, giving us a God's eye view of this tragic scene. Vehicles continue to ply on both sides of the road, but not a single one stops.
Karnan Movie Review: Mari Selvaraj's Karnan opens with the shot of a young girl suffering from fits lying helpless in the middle of the road. Can he save them from those who wield power and weapons? Karnan Movie Synopsis: An angry young man fights for the rights of his oppressed people.
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