Muddy

Story: Muthu and his cousin Karthi have fallen out, but when the latter's mud racing rival looks set to win an important competition, will the brothers unite?

Muddy is promoted as India’s first 4x4 mud race film. And newbie director-writer Dr Pragabhal had said that thanks to his passion, he had put in years of research into the races. He does justice to this choreography with thrillingly shot off-roading sequences that capture the mood of excitement of these races. But with the focus being on this, the story got dragged through the mud, to stretch a phrase.
Muthu (Yuvan Krishna) is a hard-working guy with a bravado surrounding him as he transports forest wood through rocky paths down the hills. His estranged cousin Karthi (Ridhaan Krishna) has an arch rival at college and in the mud races, Tony (Amith Sivadas Nair). Karthi also tries to create some trouble at the wood loading site where Muthu works, but it isn’t clear why he behaves like an extorting goonda, when it is later revealed that he is an engineer.
Racing movies, whether Bollywood’s hit franchise Dhoom or Hollywood’s The Fast and The Furious one, have strong antagonist or anti-hero characters. Muddy decided this was the way to go, but has a shoddily written bunch of characters who barely hold the story together; be it hero Muthu, Karthi Tony, or even Muthu’s mentor Noah (Renji Panicker).
The problem with the characters is that, apart from Muthu, they just come across as villains, rather than anti-heroes. In fact, Karthi, who progresses to become a second hero is someone who drove over Tony’s legs and briefly left him crippled. And Noah was someone who used to illegally transport sandalwood. Difficult to like men like that, no matter what.
Cinematography by KG Ratheesh and editing by San Lokesh excellently captures the thrill of the races, again which have been choreographed very well. The music by Ravi Basrur begins to feel too loud and too much after a point.
Race enthusiasts might enjoy this movie, but if you are looked for a well-rounded entertainer, this is the one for you.