The first half-an-hour or so of Joker plays out likes a farcical drama on contemporary society and politics. Director Raju Murugan (who earlier gave us Cuckoo) doesn't spare anyone. From cops who salute helicopters flying across the sky to leaders who stage half-day hunger strikes and movie stars, everyone is a fodder for his sharply written dialogues that sting like barbs.
We are introduced to Mannar Mannan (Guru Somasundaram), a villager, who, for some reason, calls himself the president of the nation (a chart in his house has photographs of all the presidents we have had till date, with Mannan's own mug) and takes it upon himself to solve the issues that he comes across. He also has two accomplices — Potti Case Ponoonjal (Mu Ramasamy), an elderly man who has a habit of taking offenders to court (Traffic Ramaswamy seems to have been the real-life inspiration here, though his look is modelled on the late writer Jayakanthan), and Isai (Gayathri Krishna), a young widow, who shares Mannar's ideals and functions as his secretary and social media manager (she uploads every moment from their protests, and these become viral memes online).
( 3.5 / 5 )