Film: Sawaari
Director: Guhan Senniappan
Cast: Benito Franklin, Karthik Yogi, Mathivanan, T M Karthik, Pandian, Sanam Shetty
A participant in the short film reality show Nalaya Iyakunar, Senniappan makes his debut in the longer format with Sawaari. A road-trip that tries to incorporate thrill, suspense and black humour, the film has freshers in the cast. The plot follows the road journey of three main characters as they try to reach their respective goals. While the first half is refreshing, with a promise of exciting possibilities that could happen on the trip, the second falls short of what one had been led to expect.
The early scenes set the stage for establishing the various characters and for providing the lead as to how their lives got intertwined. Solomon a cop is asked to investigate the killing of six men in what appeared to be the work of a serial killer. But his impending marriage makes him take a break and a road trip to the marriage venue at a village near the Andhra Pradesh border. Ravi is the reluctant youngster on his way to deliver a vintage Contessa to a politician near the Andhra border.
Superstitious about the car, the politician was determined to travel only in it to file his nomination papers for the impending election. A theater actor, Franklin with his tough look and his matter-of-fact demeanour makes a convincing cop. Karthil Yogi’s Ravi is well enacted, the actor a familiar face for short-film viewers. The urgency of the situation is conveyed, each character in a hurry to reach his destination. Mathi (Mathivanan), an oddball, takes a lift in the car with a story of how his friend had been assaulted by a highway robber.
And there is RKV, a doctor (T M Karthik), and Mathi’s friend. With the fear of the psycho killer looming large, there is a parallel cut to a psychiatrist at an FM radio station, who gives his take on the mind-set of the serial killer. The scenes are well arranged here, the editing slick, the expediency of the situation brought out skillfully.
As the various characters take lift in Ravi’s car on the highway, red herrings are thrown in, shifting suspicion from one to the other. The first part is suspenseful and thrilling the director maintaining a racy pace.