Review: Nibunan

Film: Nibunan

Cast: Arjun (Ranjith Kalidoss), Prasanna(Joseph), Varalaxmi Sarathkumar (Vandana), Sruthi Hariharan (Shilpa), Vaibhav (Sandeep) and Kreshna

Director: Arun Vaidyanathan

Cinematography: Arvind Krishna

Music: Navin

After quite a long time, a reasonably neat crime thriller in Tamil has hit the screens. Arun Vaidyanathan’s Nibunan has an interesting storyline which keeps the audience engaged. One is kept interested in developments which take place at a decent pace all through the film.

Nibunan, simply put, is about a group of officers from the Crime Investigation Department and their efforts to track down a criminal, who they believe is a serial killer.

The team is led by Ranjith Kalidoss(Arjun) and primarily comprises of just two others — Joseph (Prasanna) and Vandana (Varalakshmi Sarathkumar).

It all starts with a doll being sent to the office of Ranjith Kalidoss. Little do the officers know at that point that this is the first of the clues to a series of murders that are to take place in the city.

It is only when a social activist is found murdered in a gruesome manner, do the cops make the connection. Even as the cops grapple with the details of this crime, more deaths occur. On each body, the criminal leaves clues about his next victim and crime.

As the cops intensify their investigation, Ranjith Kalidoss realises that he is suffering from Parkinson’s disease. It is almost at the same time, that he gets to realise that he is handling a deadly criminal. The news couldn’t have come at a more inapproapriate time. Just as he is coming to terms with this news, Ranjith realises that he isn’t the hunter and the criminal isn’t the hunted anymore…

The film has its share of pluses and minuses. First, the manner in which the crimes get committed and how the cops unravel the clues to track the criminal is interesting and refreshing. Next, the film has three solid performances coming from actors Krishna, Prasanna and Sruthi Hariharan. Krishna, who makes an appearance for only a brief period, steals the show.

Prasanna too as Joseph impresses as does Lucia girl Sruthi Hariharan. Her performance makes one wonder why one doesn’t get to see her more often in Tamil films.

Arvind Krishna’s camera work plays a big part in making the film an engaging spectacle. Every shot has appropriate lighting and the angles in which some of the scenes have been shot are fantastic.

Now, moving on to the flip side, the film has some hero-worshipping scenes that are primarily there to glorify Arjun’s character. One feels Arun Vaidyanathan could have done away with such scenes while making a good serious film with solid content like Nibunan.

Next, the film has factual errors in it. For instance, there is a sequence in which Arjun, while interrogating a criminal in a case, talks about the motive of the crime. The criminal, who tries to bribe Arjun, urges him to change the sections of a case that triggered him to commit a crime to that of rape. Arjun says he will not be able to as there are no signs of rape and that the sexual intercourse between an underaged girl and a middle aged man seems to be consensual. The director seems to have failed to realise the fact that intercourse with an underaged person, with or without consent, under Indian law is rape.

Then, the dialogue delivery of certain actors is below par making it difficult for audiences to follow what is being said. For instance, Varalakshmi Sarathkumar as Vandana reels out her dialogues so fast that it becomes very difficult for audiences to understand and comprehend what she is saying. One has to make an effort to understand what the actress says on screen and this can make watching the scenes she appears in a taxing affair.

But then, these are all small issues in a film that is by and large interesting in every manner possible. So, the verdict, ladies and gentleman is that Nibunan is a decent effort and definitely worth a watch!