Emerging from the rubble, swamped with last minute release issues, the third release for Pongal 2013, Samar, made hardly any pre-release buzz nor a post release splash in its first 2 weeks. Directed by Thiru who had a flop with his debut, this being only his second movie, I did not expect anything magical from his stable. However, this movie caught me by surprise with a very vital element of movie making - the script and the narrative! Vishal who was already tottering on the ground for the past few years with some masala rehashes under his belt and the best of the lot, Bala ‘s ‘Avan Ivan’ proving futile at the box office, he was almost pushed to the corner in order to deliver the goods at any cost. This script, I should say, has come to his rescue.
Falling into the genre of mystery thriller, Samar narrates the story of a trek guide from Ooty who gets lured to Bangkok and pushed into a mess. The reason for him being caught in the mess sounded quite interesting and different and that kept the proceedings alive and ticking!
The plot as such has been given a different treatment, especially the way in which the villains treat their victims in order to make them fall prey to their mind games. I can even go a step further and would call it the first time ever in Tamil cinema that such villain-ism with a difference has been established.
Vishal was at the thick of things, always ready to thrash goons and romance women. He should be appreciated for the sole reason to have chosen such a script where the hero for most part of the movie loses to the mind games of the villain.
Trisha, looked old and carried a sleepy tone in her voice and modulation, but delivered the goods as and when it was required.
Sunaina, was there for a cameo and didn’t do much as there was no scope for her character.
The supporting cast of Jayaprakash, Sampath, Sriman and John Vijay looked majestic but their respective roles were limited.
The villain duo of Manoj Bajpai and JD Chakravarthy appeared funny and weak as they tried to put on a ‘Joker’s’ hat on screen.
Music by Yuvan disappoints except for ‘Azhago Azhagu’ which was peppy.
Cinematography by Richard captured the misty Ooty and glittering Bangkok with equal panache.
Editing by Anthony L. Ruben was okay and kept the movie engaging, but there were abrupt cuts and the BGM was not kept consistent as there were far too many rises and dips that could be sensed and made the happenings look out of sync.
Two of the songs in the second half and some logical loopholes in the script pulled it back, but overall, this movie would keep us hooked for a while and if we do not play the guessing game in the middle of the movie on who is pretending to be good and who is not, we might as well enjoy it.
Verdict: Above average!
Rating: 2.5/5
.jpg)