A single lightning strike transforms a mundane receipt printer into a ₹500 cash fountain, and a struggling family’s life flips overnight. For the first hour, Harish Durairaj’s Con City feels like a crackling satire on sudden wealth, powered by Arjun Das’s wide-eyed disbelief. But the voltage dips fast.
Arjun Das: The Man Who Owned the Machine
Arjun Das anchors the chaos with a performance that sells the absurd premise. His Jeeva is not a slick conman but a bewildered everyman, and Das makes his shift from shock to panic feel earned. The scene where he first holds the printed cash, hands trembling, face half-smiling, is the film’s most lived-in moment. He even lands the comedic beats, especially when hiding the printer from prying neighbours.
Harish Durairaj’s Direction: Funny First Half, Fumbled Finish
Durairaj directs the first half with brisk comic timing, using dynamic frames of the machine printing notes to keep the absurdity grounded. But the screenplay (co-written with Jockul Sukumaran) loses its grip after intermission. The second half slows into repetitive chaos, and the climax feels less like a resolution than a deadline.
A Crime Comedy That Forgets Its Crime Half
The crime-comedy blend works best when the machine is a secret. The opening act builds tension through small lies and close calls, with the printer tucked behind a counter like a ticking bomb. Durairaj’s camera lingers on the notes stacking up, a visual joke that lands every time. But once society discovers the gimmick, the film shifts into broad farce, losing the sharp edge of its premise.
The comedic high point is the extended family gathering where each relative tries to get a cut, played with near-slapstick energy. Yogi Babu walks away with the loudest laughs here, his deadpan reactions cutting through the noise. Yet the crime elements, threats, stakes, consequences, are almost entirely abandoned in the second half, replaced by shouting matches and chase scenes that feel generic.
Sean Roldan’s background score holds the tone together, sliding from playful strings to tense percussion. But the song placements feel bolted on, interrupting momentum rather than building it. The editing team paces the first half tightly but lets the second half stretch a good thirty minutes past its natural endpoint.
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Supporting Cast: Ben and Yogi Babu Carry the Weight
Anna Ben brings genuine emotional depth as Jeeva’s family member, grounding the family’s moral panic. Her subdued reaction to the machine, equal parts hope and dread, gives the film a needed heartbeat. Yogi Babu delivers his usual expert comic relief, but his character’s arc is frustratingly thin; he appears, jokes, and vanishes without consequence. Vadivukkarasi, as the elder matriarch, supplies a single piercing glare in the climactic confrontation that lingers longer than most scenes. Akhilan rounds out the ensemble with a thankless role that mostly involves reacting to the printer.
Audience Fit Verdict: Fun Crowd Pleaser, But Don’t Overthink It
The audience split tells the story: a 6.5/10 on IMDb and a warmer 7.8 on BookMyShow confirm this works best as a one-time laugh with friends. The first half is a rollicking family entertainer, but the second half’s plot holes and rushed climax will frustrate anyone craving a tighter script. At 2 hours 30 minutes, it overstays its welcome by a solid 20 minutes. Watch it in a packed theatre for the communal highs, but don’t expect the final act to match the first.
This is a con story that promises gold and delivers only soiled notes. Con City is a watchable but uneven ride, a 2.5/5 star effort that entertains in bursts but forgets to cash its own cheque.
If you prefer tighter pacing with more emotional heft, consider how another family drama handles its second act in Heartin review.
For a sharper social critique of cash and chaos, contrast this with Angikaaram verdict, which suffers similar structural issues.
