Film: U-Turn (Kannada)
Director: Pawan Kumar
Cast: Shraddha Srinath, Dilip Raj and Roger Narayan
Director Pawan Kumar has not let the success of Lucia sweep him away. U-Turn, which hit theatres this week, is entirely different form his last film, and a through and through thriller.
U-Turn has turned out to be an intelligent film that comes with an exceptionally stylised twist towards the end.
Even the title U-Turn is rather clever (explaining why would give the plot away.) The narrative -- unlike Lucia's -- is linear. Rachana, (Shraddha Srinath) working as a reporter at The New Indian Express, has been called to the Byappanahalli Police Station. The police are looking into the death of Sundar (Pramod Shetty), whose house she had visited.
Nayak (Roger Narayan), a sub inspector, finds out from Rachana that she collects details of two wheeler riders who have been flouting traffic rules on the Double Road flyover. The connection between this and Sundar's death forms the rest of the story, that is filled suspenseful, and ends in a unforeseen climax.
This tautly directed thriller by Pawan, who is written the story, screenplay falls under the mystery thriller genre. He skilfully cracks open the mystery for the audience bit by bit. The film comments on the consequences of breaking traffic rules. (Spoiler alert!) A touch of horror towards the end comes as a surprise, and also manages to heighten the suspense.
Pawan keeps his audience hooked by examining how the women characters handle crisis. So he also engages your emotions.
Pawan's craftsmanship is apparent in the way he has handled the male characters -- whether its Rachana's colleague Aditya, a role played by Dilip Raj, who works as a crime reporter with whom she tries to begin a relationship or Narayan's Nayak. As for the latter, the honest police officer's character has been tailor-made for Roger Narayan.
The film is full of good performers. Shradhha Srinath is perfect as Rachana. Though a newcomer, she has essayed her part with ease. Her theatre background makes her performance unique and powerful.
The same goes for Roger Narayan. He is smart and tough, and that fits the bill. The film gets good support from Dilip Raj, Radhika Chetan, Sudha Belawadi, Skanda, Krishna, Pavan, Naveen, Divya, Pramod, Aarna Kulkarni and Kennedy. Satya Hegde, Advaith Gurmurthy and Siddharth Suni's photography is top notch so is the music by Poornachandra Tejaswi. A special mention must be made of editor Suresh for how the film has turned out.
U-Turn stands out as one of the most compelling films in recent days. It's well worth a watch.