Sketch movie review: Vikram's charisma is the only saving grace of this formulaic film

Vikram’s Sketch is a typical Tamil mass template entertainer that has its shining moments, though far and few. It works to a certain extent due to Vikram’s charisma and style, and with the ease that he does mass commercials. Vikram flaunts his swag with élan and style, and doesn’t look his age. The actor has committed to Sketch as compensation for scrapping Karikalan for the same producer. Vijay Chandar, the director of the film, had quickly worked on the script, based on a good-hearted, stylish rowdy based in North Madras, Chennai’s mean streets. The story is wafer thin and focuses more at the star delivering the goods, rather than the story. [caption id=“attachment_4152867” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Vikram, Tamannaah in Sketch[/caption] Jiiva aka Sketch (Vikram) is a tough man who makes a living as a recovery agent. He specialises in seizing vehicles from those who default on loan payment. He along with his three other friends Bhaskar, Kumar and Guna are on the payroll of garage owner and local vehicle loan financier Settu (Hareesh Peradi). Sketch and his friends have plenty of enemies, like dreaded gangster Royapuram Kumar (Baburaj), Ravi (RK Suresh), and eventually a turf war erupts. One day while seizing a two wheeler he meets a girl Ammu (Tamannaah) and after the usual misunderstandings, romance brews between the two. A new assistant commissioner (Abhishek) takes charge to clean up the area of gangsters. Meanwhile Settu wants Sketch to pick up a rare antique car used by Kumar which once belonged to his father. Sketch and his gang humiliates Kumar and gets the car confiscated by the police and all hell breaks loose. Sketch finds his friends getting brutally murdered one after another and he suspects the hand of Kumar, which leads to the suspense twist in the end. There is a sense of déjà vu as Vikram has done so many similar films, where he plays a rowdy with a heart of gold (Gemini, Rajapattai etc). But the director knows that in a festival season, this is what sells best: formulaic mass action movies with good songs, comedy and action. Tammannah plays the typical Tamil cinema heroine who falls for an uneducated rowdy character. Her purpose in the film starts with the glam factor and ends with being a part of songs. Thaman has provided some peppy numbers and a few good melodies, but the song placement in the film sticks out like a sore thumb. The climax twist is the saving grace of Sketch. The director has sensitively portrayed the growing trend of juvenile criminals, and the way children are taking to crime at a very young age. On the whole, Sketch is designed as a festival film packaged for mass audiences and strictly for fans of Vikram.