Whether he's playing the glib and quick-thinking Kaashmora or the lecherous yet courageous Raj Naik, the army commander in the fantasy/historical world, he's superb. There's one shot in which he poses as a sword-wielding woman and his body language in this blink-and-miss moment proves his calibre. When male actors play a woman, they often fall back on disrespectful caricature. Karthi, however, pulls it off with grace, still managing to be funny. There's never a dull moment when he's on screen and the film powers through mainly because of his performance.