'Yudham Sei' (Tamil, Thriller)
Director: Mysskin
Cast: Cheran, Deepa Shah, Y Gee Mahendran, Jayaprakash, Lakshmi, Manikka Vinayakam, Selva
When young girls go missing and chopped body parts are left in cartons at strategic places for the cops to find, CB-CID officer JK is brought in to investigate. The trail leads him to a well organised flesh racket involving some higher-ups, criminal elements and cops.
With JK’s own sister gone missing, he is determined to bring the culprits to trial. But there is a mysterious vigilante on the prowl too, meting out his own form of justice. For both director Mysskin, and Cheran - the protagonist - it’s a genre quite different from the ones they had handled earlier.
It’s a meticulous step by step investigation by JK (Cheran), as he follows the trail with his deputy in tow (Deepa Shah), re-opens old cases, and connects missing links. These scenes have a detailed etching and the element of suspense is maintained too. But the pace is a tad too leisurely and slower than what is warranted from a suspense thriller.
Subtlety is Cheran’s forte. And the actor underplays his role of JK, albeit with a perpetual glum expression. It’s the supporting actors who get that extra mileage in the plot - like Y Gee Mahendran as the eminent doctor caught in an unsavoury case, the humiliation leading to the family’s suicide. Lakshmi as his wife springs a surprise with her aggressive moves and tonsured look. And Jaiprakash proves his versatility yet again, leaving a marked impression as the doctor-friend.
To Mysskin’s credit, he’s focused on his theme with no distracting elements of romantic forays and inane comedy. The item number, which seems more like an afterthought (Ameer- Neethu Chandra), could have been dispensed with too.
The fight on the bridge where JK cornered by a gang of armed goons takes them on single-handedly with his pen-knife, lacks conviction. The scenes of lecherous old men indulging in hedonistic activities, seems straight out of the Hollywood horror flick ‘Hostel 2’.
Also, the whole vendetta-factor seems uncannily similar to that of ‘Easan’.
The film offers the audience a different viewing experience. But it misses out on that feeling of complete satisfaction.