Lokesh Kanagaraj has always been a gambler. He put machine guns into the hands of his idol, reviving his career as an action hero at 67 in Vikram. He pulled people back to the theatres during COVID by making a screen icon play a drunken slob in Master, and consciously placed a moving father-daughter story bang in the middle of a cocaine bust in Kaithi. But perhaps his biggest gamble would have to be in one of his better written films. In Maanagaram, Lokesh tells an ambitious hyperlink story about the various residents that populate Chennai city after hours, all with a technical crew as fresh as himself in the industry.
One could look at Maanagaram as a labyrinthine genre film, for it follows three unnamed men and their understanding of the city through various insider-outsider perspectives. Lokesh hits us with charged conflicts one scene after another up until its riveting finale. But it is in the middle of these conflicts that the film tries to sell us on a simple thought – that surprise packages can be found in the weirdest of places. So for every bullish cop like Neelakandan, there is an upstanding constable who will buy you tea and do the right thing. And for every callous child-snatcher (Arun Alexander), there is a crook like Winnings (Munishkanth), nevertheless anchored by his big heart.
As the film turns six, let’s look at the best six scenes that laid out the path for Loki’s take off.