Master (2021) Review: Professor vs Gangster, Pandemic-Era Voltage

Is Master worth watching?

Yes — the Vijay vs Vijay Sethupathi collision is the reason to go. It earns a 73% Celluloid Score from editorial rating (80), Metascore (68), Letterboxd (3.6/5), and IMDb (7.3/10). The 91% audience snapshot is display-only and is not in the composite.

Lokesh’s Tamil original runs 179 minutes. It sits on our Tamil hub as the bridge between his Kaithi crime chill and the later Lokesh Cinematic Universe flex of Leo.

Two Vijays, one juvenile home

An alcoholic professor is posted to a school that a gangster uses as a recruitment farm. Anirudh’s score treats every walk as a trailer; Arjun Das’s Bhavani became a meme for a reason. Vijay Sethupathi plays stillness against Vijay’s motion — the film is sharpest in their shared frames and slackest when it pauses for romance and comedy tracks.

Event vs movie

Audience 91% vs Letterboxd 3.6 is the pandemic-theatrical split: people needed a crowd, and Master supplied one. Celluloid’s 73% keeps the composite in Recommended without pretending this is The Dark Knight.

Verdict

Watch for the interval block and Sethupathi. Then go to Leo if you want Lokesh’s cooler crime toys. Where to watch.