Evaru Telugu movie review: Whodunnit?

-

This one was suggested home minister (which bumped it to a mandatory viewing) and also by Firangi, so it would be interesting, without doubt. If you're interested in boxing things up, I'd say the keywords here are murder mystery and thriller.

The suave sub - inspector Vikram Vasudev (Adivi Shesh) is called to investigate/ help Sam (Regina Cassandra) who is accused of killing her alleged rapist (who a high - ranking police officer), so there is a lot of media attention and powerful people involved, so navigating the investigation is a tricky thing. Sam takes charge and avails Vikram's services for a "fee". 

A major portion of the movie is shot in an aesthetically - pleasing hotel room (bonus points for interior decoration) and is a conversation between the main characters in this movie. From here we're taken to flashbacks at 2 times, one during the murder and one a year before. Two story threads are interwoven here, and we're taken through different versions of the "truth", depending on who is narrating it.   

Source

The choice of the crime location is Coonoor which I felt to be apt, metaphorically. Resplendent (Regina?), obscured by clouds (till the last scene I was like WTF) and gloomy (dark things are afoot in this movie). The first half is spent on Vikram's theories on what happened and, and then we gradually move to the why.  Trailer.  Shifting of the truth narrative happens with the passing of the movie, as more and more facts are uncovered. This narration style reminded me of the Hindi movie Badla. A little birdy tells me that these movies were inspired by a Spanish movie, so automatically it is on my list now. It will be interesting to observe.

Regina has acted well here, going from vulnerable, defiant, fearless and cunning in different phases. This is the first time I'm watching her movie. At some points I felt she was holding something back, and felt she has more potential.

 Adivi plays his part well. I found his second half performance better than the first half. The bgm was reminding me of Goodachari (yet to write!), and was great here as well. The camerawork was beautiful, and captured the serenity of Coonoor and the tension in the movie perfectly.

Source

To be frank, I had to pause and ask home minister who these people are, as there are quite fast paced twists here and as I do not understand Telugu (had subtitles on). 

The execution here is superb, as the movie relies on the tight storyline and impressive acting to keep us hooked. The tension builds up in the second half until the end of the movie, when the cat and mouse game between Vikram and Sam is on. The last few scenes are a crescendo of thrill, amazing background music and tight camerawork. I just loved it. If I'm allowed to nitpick, I was not ok with the way the sub - plot was introduced. It looked quite forced and artificial to me.

Watch this for a thrilling story, great execution and if you like to guess and be proven wrong.

(Thanks, Krips, for the insights and for proofreading ;) ) 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

1984

-
Image
  Source. This was the first book I purchased from my first salary almost 15 years ago, so this is a re-read for me. While the book remains the same, I and the world have changed drastically. It is the best and worst book to read in this time. 1984 is a dark, depressing novel about a dystopian world where everything and everyone is controlled by the state ( Big brother is watching). Orwell creates a terrifying world where the food is bland, everything is in short supply, the country is always at war, relationships are non existent, and the sex is without pleasure. This is a state which tell everyone what to do, who to speak to, what to eat, how to behave, who to sing praise to, and what the "truth" is. e.g. 2 + 2 = 5. Does this ring a bell? Such has been the book's influence that many words from it such as newspeak, doublethink, thoughtcrime, Big Brother and Room 101 have entered the English language.  Source There are only a handful of characters in the novel. Winston, a...
Read more

Dia: Kannada movie review

-
Image
Dia is a intense movie which revolves around the life of a girl called Dia ( Kushee Ravi ). She is an introvert, and is madly attracted to a guy from her college, Rohit ( Dheekshith  Shetty). The movie follows Dia's life from this point onward, and takes us through the ups and downs that she experiences. It is about love and heartache, about pinning your hopes on something to get shattered and bruised again and again. Letting yourself go is the right way to live.  Like life, this movie can be complicated. Life runs on hope, a wise man had told me once, and I remembered this during the movie. Image courtesy IMDB I loved the portrayal of the insecurities which play out in your head when you're madly in love. Each sentence is analysed a thousand times, and all the possibilities are studied to death. You live each moment in your head a thousand times before it happens or doesn't happen at all. The dream is your reality. It is natural, and our tendency to...
Read more

Birbal: Kannada movie review

-
Image
Birbal, case No.1 ( written and directed by M G Srinivas ) : Finding Vajramuni is a legal thriller and the first part of the Birbal Trilogy. The second and third installments are yet to be released. I watched this movie as it was heavily recommended by wifey so naturally it became top priority in a very short time :P. We follow the investigation of an 8 - year old case which has been re-opened for some reason. The suspect has already spent 8 years in prison and is now out on parole. There is a lawyer and his 2 associates who begin to unravel the layers of this case. At each step they go down the rabbit hole and uncover bits of evidence and put together the pieces of the puzzle. Characters involved in the case are revealed, each bringing a new dimension, their motivations and sub plots.  image courtesy IMDB The topic here is framing of an innocent person which I think happens fairly often. There is a superb sequence in the movie when the suspect gets a call from an unknown...
Read more