Review: U-Turn

Film: U Turn
Director: Pawan Kumar
Cast: Samantha Akkineni, Aadhi Pinisetty, Narain, Rahul Ravindran, Bhumika Chawla
Music: Poorna Chandra Tejaswi

Director Pawan Kumar, who struck gold with this film when he first made it in Kannada with Sharaddha Srinath playing the lead, seems to have repeated the feat with the film’s Tamil and Telugu remakes as well.

U Turn is a sleek, well-made, intriguing, engaging entertainer that has you on the edge-of-your-seat for the most part.

Rachna(Samantha) is an intern with a newspaper looking to do a story on people making an illegal U-turn on a particular flyover. She wishes to explore the nature, behaviour and civic sense of such people violating the law. As part of the story, she intends to interview 10 to 12 such people who have violated the law. A homeless man, who takes shelter on the footpath of the flyover, helps her by noting down the registration numbers of two wheelers, the owners of which move aside the blocks of cement that serve as a divider before taking a U-turn. She decides to begin work by interviewing one of the 12 people whose registration numbers she has procured from the homeless man. However, she has no luck as the door is locked and there is no response to the ringing of the door bell.

That evening when Rachna returns from a date, the cops call on her. They take her to a police station for interrogation. Rachna gets to know that she has been made a suspect in a case involving the death of the individual she had gone to interview that morning. She pleads ignorance with the cops, one of whom is Nayak (Aadhi). She tells them that she had gone to interview the man who had died and that she had plans to interview 9 other people. She shows them their registration numbers and their respective addresses in the hope of convincing them.

The cops begin investigating all the claims she makes. As a result, they also look to find out if there are any cases that have been filed against the other nine people whose registration numbers she has got. To their shock, they discover all nine have died and all their cases have been closed as suicide. They then decide to call on the latest registration number she has procured from the homeless man. The man is alive when the cops call on him. But it is not long before he too gets killed. Police officer Nayak realises that something is seriously amiss and that all their deaths are connected. What is it that killed all these people and for what reason? The cop and the journalist begin a dangerous investigation…

Samantha is just brilliant as a journalist in this film. Be it her boycut hairstyle or her body language, the actress is spot on with regard to every aspect of her character. In other words, she just kills it with this sterling performance. She is ably supported by Aadhi, who is perfect as a police officer. The casting team couldn’t have found another actor more apt for this role. Aadhi, who already impressed as a cop in Eeram, delivers a performance in this film that is a notch better than even the one he came up with in Eeram.

Bhumika Chawla, who has been missing from the Tamil film industry for quite a while, makes a strong comeback with a good performance in this film. As a loving mother, she is adorable and as an unforgiving punisher, she is fearsome. Although Narain and Bhumika appear for only a brief period, they impress.

U-turn is easily the best film to hit screens this week. Make sure you don’t miss this one!