Negative: Jayram is someone who is suffering from his own persona and impulses. He cannot act anymore, all he can do is imitate. This is what long breaks from acting does to a person, though he has the spirit to perform, it falls short. Whenever he is shown, I am hearing and seeing expressions of Kamal Hassan. The only saving grace in his acting was the physical straitjacket he took to portray being depressed and the final shot of his grinning face. I hope in part two these shortcomings would be fixed. A small suggestion for Jayram: see some Nordic films in this genre and try to imitate and adapt those actors characteristics, it might bring some difference, do the research and work. Also, get into streaming platform projects, show an active presence, doing so might make other movie makers to think about you while writing stories or making projects.
The other thing was the unnecessary distance that is kept between the investigating officer and his suspects and the would-be victims. It might've been done to intensify that suspense thingy the film was pushing, but it was a bit unpleasant. A major unpleasant thing was Jayram's character breaking his own character in a final bit with Jagadish's character by being petty and without evidence. It felt like biting on a pebble, ruined the buildup. That is one area were Suresh Gopi is actively conscious about and won't be compromising. Another one is the lack of physical care these actors had, everyone had a big ole tire around their waist, maybe their age is a factor that disallows them to maintain an aesthetic appearance. However, there should be a system in the film industry for this specific problem.
Positive: Story of the film was refreshing, had better, and never before seen story setting development. Even though the glorification of a criminal and the aspect that bone fragments were never checked during forensic's raises an eyebrow, as a first attempt by the writer, it is fairly passable. Silly medical aspects woven in were interesting, and the use of a quote, if it's a true quote in that place, the use of something that could be often overlooked was a good film element, and that seemed like a personal touch by the writer. I also loved the scoring background used, especially a strategic technique copied straight from Oppenheimer, that was a nice touch. I also liked the fact some forgotten actors were given a chance in this film, something that everyone should aim to do. Everyone has to make a living, right. Maybe the saving grace of the film was the final cameo, but maybe it also took away Jayram's spotlight off from the film. Was it required, I don't know, but to put the film onto the fourth gear for the film producer's it might've been necessary. However, I would've loved to see a different person, someone whom the audience hasn't seen in this industry or someone who used to be very active in the industry or so. Overall, giving Jayram a jumpstart through this film series is a respectable thing, even though it was a great gamble with this one, hope things would be fixed with the upcoming ones. I also hope his son wouldn't be included in these projects, cause then it would be a mega-cringe of nepotism.
Rant: It would be fun to watch a Garudan-Ozler combo, each with their own peculiarities, but could they both hone such persona's and characteristics....that would be a question. I don't know what happened with Suraj, he was doing some great acting and now all of a sudden it stopped, it seems like he is non-existent. He could have done a police officer or a doctor's role or something.
Recommendation: An okay film for one time watch, I would prefer to stream it cause the first half felt like so stretched out, but it had elements unlike other stretched out films. Watch it if you like to see Mithun's work. Cause, he has tried to incorporate many aspects and minor experiments in storytelling, and as a person if you're someone who can be appreciative about it, go to theaters to show it.
