Well, the tagline of the three B’s above fits actor Bharath who has tried to make a much needed comeback with this supposed-to-be mind thriller directed by one of Kollywood’s demure man, Sasi! He is known for his down-to-earth presentation of love stories that would appeal to the larger audiences. His last film ‘Poo’ was an awesome take on a female’s perspective of love and yearning for her loved one, which was hardly told by directors in the past. With a script like ‘555’ in his kitty, he has attempted to jump into the fray of directors who want to churn out something different somehow. Let’s see how....
It starts with Bharath meeting with a gruesome road accident and further being diagnosed as a psychologically disturbed person who is in constant need to be counseled by a psychiatrist and is taken care by his elder brother (Santhaanam). Both the psychiatrist and his brother try to convince him that he had no love affair in the past as perceived by him and its only his imagination that he should fight with and recover. But Bharath does not get convinced and takes on the mission to find out what really happened to him and his girlfriend (Mirthika), thus unleashing the ‘power of love’.
Mind thrillers in Tamil have been very few. Not sure if its a consequence or coincidence, only a few months back Vishal’s ‘Samar’ had a similar hinge in its storyline. But the similarity stops there and the execution here was somewhat better than the former. The first half was a mixed bag with a lots of hits and misses, but leaves us with some riddles and questions that get solved in the latter half. By the time we approach the climax, we get to know the complete picture of what is in the offing and a cliched climax with the good over evil was a dampener. Had there been a tighter screenplay overall, the movie would have made for an awesome thriller!
Bharath’s role is by far a better one, especially compared to his last few movies. The highlight is the six packs that he developed for this one! Not sure if that is an indispensable one for this role, but has been acting as a marketing gimmick for the movie. He looked fabulous with his six packs but the same cannot be told about his acting. I would still like the humble Bharath that I saw in ‘Veyil’.
Mirthika, as the naive and bubbly girl had an effervescent charm and an inherent innocence that was leveraged to its full potential and worked to the script’s advantage.
Erica Fernandes, the femme fatale, though initially appeared to be a needless addition, made sense in the second half. I am keeping it under wraps as of now.
Santhaanam has been given quite a serious role and if you're expecting any comedy from him, you’re in for some disappointment as he is made to disappear in the middle.
The villain was a newbie North Indian - again a cliched selection, does an average job.
Editing and Cinematography departments were average as the length of the movie could have been trimmed by chopping some unwanted numbers and the frames did not look as vivid as it should have been for this genre.
Music by another newbie Simon was not anywhere to be mentioned, though the BGM was somewhat engaging, mainly because it was less noisy.
This can be termed as a nice attempt and the twist in the tale has been well etched, but the execution could have been better with a crisper screenplay and richer technicalities.
Verdict: Average
Rating: 2.5 / 5
.jpg)