Saithan (Tamil, 2016)

First-time writer-director, Pradeep has to be praised for trying to create a psychological thriller within the mainstream space. He has been able to successfully create good set pieces like the search in Thanjavur and the face to face exchange with Thomas. His casting overall is great too. The moment you place Charuhaasan in such a role, it brings in so much believability.

Vijay Antony seems to have found the knack for selecting scripts that are mainstream yet have their own uniqueness. While he completely misses the meter when the psychiatrist first questions about the voice in his head, he progressively gets better and is even convincing in the massy avatar towards the fag end of the film.

Arundhati Nair acquits herself quite well in quite a meaty role for a debutant. She has been able to bring out the differences quite well. The casting of Kitty as the psychiatrist and Y.Gee.Mahendran as the boss have worked out quite well as they bring immense credibility with their measured performances.

The film is technically rich with the cinematographer Pradeep Kalipurayath excelling in the low-light sequences and the editor VeeraSenthil Raj showcasing his craft during the cuts between the current and the past, the real and the hallucinations and the stunt sequences.

The film wavers a lot in the first half with the prime intention of keeping the audience guessing. In spite of the logical tie-ups in the over-the-top third act, there are still pending tracks in the script that seem unresolved or unconvincing like the death of Dinesh’s colleague, the mysterious guy outside the window, the sudden jump into the Thanjavur journey etc. There is no time devoted to the modus-operandi of the villains and their schemes.While they thankfully are not comical, their overall characterization seemsextremely one-sided on the whole.

Apart from the pulsating background score, the music director in Vijay Antony seems to have lost out to the actor in him in this film. As a result, the songs are really average and only due to the fact that most are montages the audiences stay glued to their seats.