A suspense thriller, the plot is set against the backdrop of an FM radio station. It touches on friendship, betrayal and adultery. Debutant director Durai Karthikeyan (who passed away in an accident recently) has crafted an edge-of-the seat-thriller maintaining suspense and interest for the most part. The actors are fresh faces or lesser known ones. So they carry no baggage, and are able to project their characters with conviction. The only glitch is that the film reminds one of other films of this genre. Particularly of Unfaithful (French/English) with which this film shares many similarities.
The story centres around three main characters. Karthik, the chief programmer, sober and responsible (debutant Arjun Vijayraghavan); his buddy Madhav, the RJ and a compulsive flirt (Gibran); and Priya (Neelam), the new marketing executive. The director recreates the ambiance realistically. Whether it’s in depicting the activity at the radio station; or in inter-cutting his narration with shots of routine life of Chennai, when the station goes on air. Madhav tries to impress Priya. While she, aware of his reputation brushes him off, preferring the company of Karthik. Soon the equations between the trio change leading to drastic consequences.
The screenplay has some interesting twists and turns. Tall, handsome debutant Arjun Vijayraghavan (has acted in some commercials) reflects the various nuances of his character and it’s changing emotions impressively. Neelima as Priya is apt for the role. Gibran has done a couple of films earlier, but gets a meaty role here and leaves a mark. The film opens on a note of thrill and suspense, and a murder. The director takes his narration back and forth filling in the gaps and depicting the earlier moments in its true perspective. It’s a crisp focused story -telling of about two hours. He has used the confined
space well- whether it’s the scenes at the radio station, or later at the hotel where the finale is played out.
The songs are aesthetically picturised. Consistently maintaining it’s pace and the suspense quotient,
The Verdict: Unnodu... is ideal fare for lovers of this genre.
Film- Unnodu oru Naal
Director- Durai Karthikeyan
Cast- Arjun Vijayraghavan, Gibran Osman, Neelam.