The movie starts of with a series of doctors and medical officers being kidnapped and murdered, by a mystery guy. After a heavy investigation led by Sathyaraj, they zero in on Vijay and immediately arrest him. During enquiry, Vijay then reveals why he committed those crimes and who he did it with. The rest of the plot revolves around Vijay's past, which focuses on 'Thalapathy' Vijay and SJ Sruyah.

Initially it was widely speculated that Vijay plays three roles, but as we all silently expected Vijay indeed plays triple distinctive characters - a doctor, a magician and a father. Vijay has pulled off all the characters well, especially the roles of a doctor and a magician. 

In recent times, SJ Suryah's acting skills has been on point, and yet again has proved it by delivering an explosive on screen performance as a stylish baddie. Like wise, Sathyaraj plays a pivotal role and has delivered a decent performance. 

Samantha Ruth Prabhu and Kajal Agarwal have also performed well, but Nithya Menen, snatches all the glory away, as she has more on screen presence time and has delivered an applause worthy, beautiful performance.  

Veteran actors Vadivelu and Kovai Sarala has provided the humour, which works well. The former seems to be back in form, as he also acts more than a comedian, and this definitely marks as his major come-back film. 

Atlee has done a pretty decent job in the directorial department, even though it is pretty easy to judge the story as the movie goes on, the screenplay and his way of presenting the film has to be applauded. When it comes to screenplay, the first half of the film is breezy and light while the actual story kicks in with the second half. Still, the flashback portion which revolves around on 'Thalapathy' Vijay and Nithya Menen, could have been trimmed, as it was a bit draggy. Yet, Atlee's direction skills are on point and he has used all the actors' who performed in the film well.  

G K Vishnu cranks the camera and has made the movie very colourful. His cinematography skills comes to the fore and he has shot incredibly well, with stunning visuals. It is definitely one of the most positive aspects for the film's success. As a debutant this will definitely kick start Vishnu's career in huge proportions. Kudos to the director of photography! Meanwhile, Reputed editor, Ruben has provided the cuts and they are on point.

It is well known that Mozart of Madras, AR Rahman has scored the music and as expected he, as always has done a perfect job. All the songs from the film has been an instant hit, with "Aalaporaan Thamizhan" being one of the most trending songs for a long time. Similarly, his background scores more than justify the movie's setting and pace.

In short, Mersal, leaves all the ardent Vijay fans mersalised.