Virumaandi and Aaydha Ezhuthu showed us
that familiar stories can be made to look fresh with non-traditional screenplays and director Dorai has taken this
lesson to heart. So he takes a familiar tale, splits it up into three different tracks and presents it to us
in a non-linear fashion. This novelty in narration does help but only upto a certain point. No amount of screenplay
tricks can completely cover up how cliched the underlying story is and the uneven nature of the individual tracks
doesn't help either.
The film switches between three tracks. In one, we see a young
man(Bharath), who seems to be of Nepali origin, walk into the house of a software engineer and kill him in a
methodical fashion. We soon learn that he has more victims planned and the police, who get photographs from him
about his intended targets, are hot on his chase. The second track takes us to prison, where we see a prisoner(Bharath)
trying unsuccessfully to commit suicide. Locked up in a punishment cell for this, he befriends another prisoner who
is in jail on a trumped-up drug charge. And in the third track, we see a software engineer Karthik(Bharath) romancing
a college girl Priya(Meera Jasmine). After unsuccessfully trying to convince her parents, the two elope to Chennai
and start their life afresh.
Since the three tracks have no common characters(Bharath, ofcourse, is a common factor but he looks different in
each and we have no idea if he is playing the same character in all the tracks) and we are not sure about their
chronology, it is not immediately clear how they relate to one another. So the movie raises a number of
questions about the links between them and that is a surefire way to gain our interest. But the movie keeps us in
this mode for too long. The tracks do move along but suspense turns to irritation as they show no sign of
converging even after the 2-hour mark.
The multiple tracks and the extended suspense also have the effect of raising our anticipation regarding the
final revelations when they converge. So its comes as a disappointment when it turns out to be the oldest plot
device in the book. But that said, Dorai finishes the film on a superb note with an unexpected - even if
borrowed - sleight of hand that makes us assume a particular ending before turning things around.
The three tracks make up a nice trio since they deal with very different scenarios. The track with the Nepali
Bharath is naturally the most interesting among the three. While the seemingly random murders keep us hooked
regarding the motive behind them, the investigation by the police, which has its own clever moments(like the
way they decipher the meaning behing the word Gouri, which has been scribbled on the wall by one of the victims)
and ridiculous leaps(like the way they come up with the time for the next murder based on the phrase "Wonderful
Times") keeps up the tension as they close in on Bharath. Ofcourse, the foundation of the track is quite shaky
since there is absolutely no reason for Bharath to give all those clues to the police in the first place. The
track in prison resembles the scenario seen before in movies like Adhu Oru
Kanaakkaalam, with the pathetic conditions and the sadistic warden. But the movie manages to keep things
realistic with no song where the prisoners provide the background score with their aluminium plates! The romantic
track ends up the weakest of the three since it is not convincing. But the impact does improve when things take
a turn for the worse.
Bharath carries off the three roles convincingly. While his hairstyle and get-up are more noticeable in his
roles as the engineer and the Nepali, he earns our sympathy as the prisoner(though the lack of any background
to the character is a stumbling block). Meera Jasmine looks a bit mature and doesn't display a lot of chemistry
with Bharath, though one can't blame her for not trying. Raja Ravindar earns our hatred with a suitably
underplayed role of the obsessed cop while Prem fits the role of the cop on Bharath's trail. The movie boasts of a
slick look and maintains a serious tone most of the time. The quick editing and unnecessary graphics in the beginning
threaten to give us a headache but are thankfully toned down later.
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