Having apprenticed with Rajiv Menon and directed ad-films and a TV serial, Abanindran directs his first feature film. A breezy entertainer at times satirical in its take, the film chronicles the happenings in the life of Karthik, a software engineer from a middle class background. It’s about how an indiscreet act of his triggers a chain of events that ultimately boomerangs on him. The director moves his narration confidently, making an effort to strike away from the conventional story telling method. Cleverly weaving in the emotional quotient towards the latter part, he ends it all with a feel-good flavour. But on the flip side, the characters are too many, and it does take a little time to decipher who is who, as events move up the hierarchal order.
The plot is based on the premise that desperate situations make desperate men. Karthik (Praveen) in urgent need of money to treat his ill father (JP), borrows from a loan shark (Dass). And when the man is at his door, Karthik takes a drastic step to extricate himself from the problem. Dass is a delight to watch as the ruthless financier with a roving eye. Praveen’s Karthik is well played with just the right nuances. How indiscrete acts of humans can be used against them, is depicted in a humorous way. In Karthik’s act of desperation, even Pooja, his former girlfriend (Shalini), is not spared. It’s a clever bit of writing, where each character in the chain tries to save his own skin by playing on the weakness of another, the stakes raised a little higher each time. The fast cuts here help to avoid moments that could otherwise have been space-consuming. What the film could do with is a little more style. Mani should be Bala’s most cherished role to date. Street smart, changing his voice as he calls up and blackmails the various links in the chain, Bala is the show stealer here.
The Sharma-Varma comedy is amusing in parts. It’s an interesting scenario where the don pits his wits against Karthik’s, giving the latter a second chance. But these scenes could have been crisper. With family bonding coming into play, sentiment is smartly weaved together with crime. A pleasant watch of about 129 minutes, the film is a promising work of a debutant maker.