U Turn

Well written screenplay with a social message.. Clean submit.. Well played thriller..

When you talk proudly about Kannada films in the recent times you can hardly miss mentioning Pawan Kumar's "Lucia" . The immense success of this film put Pawan onto the list of acclaimed film-makers and the expectation level just got higher. This really puts him in a tight situation. After a gap of more than two years Pawan is back with his new project / film "U turn". The title is catchy for sure and the trailer does tempt you to watch as soon as it hits the screen.

Unlike Lucia, this is not a mind-bending, twisty or a clever script. Its minimalist, focused, fast paced and follows a linear narrative. As revealed in the trailer its a story about the mysterious events that occur on a flyover. How these events get connected to each of the characters in the film is interestingly woven. Its quite unusual to have a female play the lead protagonist but it seems to be a very sensible decision. In any narrative there should be some character which we should sympathise with and that kind of fits in right. The urban set-up of Bangalore that we live in blends perfectly with the plot. Even though the narrative scopes itself to Bangalore, it kind of works for any metropolitan city where time, traffic, chaos take precedence.

The film starts with some heavy conversational scene which is rather unconnected to the main plot. So even if you walk in five minutes late into the show you haven't missed anything important. "U Turn" is not those "dont miss the beginning" films. It flows freely and falls in place by the end of first thirty minutes. Once the main plot kicks in it hooks you on. The plot is so thin and sacred that you just cant think of tampering it by giving unnecessary faking shocks. In a way the film builds up and unfolds in a predictable sort which made sense to me. It could have been clever but the tone is such that it is more subtle than being complex. Having the lucid Lucia experience there are high chances that you could have expected it to go to wow you but the narrative chooses to be straight and more importantly delivers what it has to. We Indians are kind of fond of message oriented films. Ask any film-maker, he says there is a social message, its become a norm sort of. If you build a narrative such that the message is passed and not forced that probably has more impact. Those who have watched "Sairat" will relate to this. U-turn too does not force any message but does bring out the aspect of civic sense and responsibilities. I hope after watching people will remember and get reminded of their responsibilities on and off the roads. Lets not just limit ourselves to put on some FB post stating "I will not take this or that turn #uturn".

There is shift in genre from romance, thriller, mystery, horror. Its kind of risky given the mood swings however its an interesting experiment which did not disturb me much. There is no scope for songs, forced comical situations and am glad that no compromise has been done on this part owing to the commercial aspects. This is appreciable! There are scenes where in dialogues are excessive. Since most of the audience connect with dialogues more than the visual this traditional technique is still followed.

Performances were pretty decent. Shraddha fits in right for the role. A new face was seriously needed and she seems to have played it well. Many might feel that her Kannada could have been better but w.r.t the character she plays it is quite OK. Krishna Hebbale once again plays a cop. He is kind of senior. Roger Narayan gives out a new feel and seems to be a great find for the role. Dilip Raaj is a fine actor but has been underutilized. Hope he gets noticed for his work. There is one actor who keeps on coming to your mind while you watch the film but never comes on screen. Baadal!

Technically this is a well executed film. There is nothing awesome about the visuals as the shots are more natural and more like what you see in day-today life. The sound-scape especially for a city like Bangalore seems very effective.

No big producers, no big stars yet Pawan and his team manage to pull out a film that engages you for about two hours. Agreed that its of a different experience than Lucia but how many films like U-turn gets written, executed and delivered? Could it have been more better? Maybe! Could it have different way of ending? Maybe! But it would spoil the narrative. Looks like the only way it had to end has been followed. Well the fact is, Its an indigenous script and it surely deserves your time.

This is one of the best entertainers I've come across in this genre.You really are missing out on a gem if you miss this one,I can give you that.Skillfully narrated with excellent cinematography complementing it.No junk anywhere. It has been successful in preserving the audience's attention and interest till the very end.People who do not fancy the idea of existence of supernatural force might find very few parts of the movie irksome.What is more commendable is how the director has tapped into new talent.The impeccable quality simply reflects on the efforts gone into its making. This movie will certainly garner more appraisals.To sum it all up, a highly recommended thriller you can't afford to miss.

My first foray into Kannada movies and I'm not disappointed. U-Turn is a movie in the horror/mystery genre that shows the brilliance of simple story-telling and the right casting. All actors played to their strengths, and nothing was overdone. Cheers to Pawan Kumar, the director-cum-writer.

The movie revolves around a journalism intern, Rachna (Shraddha Shrinath), who is working on a story about people jumping a divider with their bikes on Bangalore's Double Road flyover, by moving loose blocks of concrete. She sees this as a blatant violation of traffic rules, and the loosened blocks are just kept lying on the street, causing problems for drivers, and sometimes fatal accidents. In her quest to get a violator's perspective, she manages to trace an address and pays a visit. This leads to her becoming embroiled in a murder investigation as a prime suspect. From there on, prepare to be hooked into a world of mystery and intrigue.

Read the full review: http://www.ergophobist.com/2017/06/movie-review-u-turn-kannada.html

"It may not be the best from Pawan(director of lucia) but his making style is really good and message was rightly portrayed which makes it a good horror mystery thriller film with social message.'U-Turn' should be watched by everyone for its innovative storytelling and convincing social message on road safety"

Positives- 1.)Direction and script- Pawan who earlier directed lucia was excellent movie which i rated 5 out of 5 but if i compare with this film then it may not be that great. He was trying to add horror thriller to a social message driven film which may have its flaws but he did a different attempt and i must appreciate him for that. Script was engaging along with direction.

2.)Shradda srinath , roger narayan and dilip raj- These 3 actors portrayed their roles properly and out of them shradda was outstanding and she was able to bring out those emotions perfectly without any flaws. Roger narayan as inspector was right choice by director. Dilip raj was fine.

3.)cinematography and edits 4.)Bg score 5.)Message about road safety was rightly conveyed.

Negatives- 1.)Cliches in second half - First half went with introduction of characters and that was fine. But second half the director's vision of portraying certain elements had flaws and it disturbed the experience. Director could have taken care of that to avoid this type of mistakes.

2.)Predictability- Because of certain cliché'd scenes it was predictable for audience which spoiled the experience of mystery thriller.

Is it a must watch? Yes it is a must watch film and it has a great social message. It is a innovative movie on road safety.

Overall- Despite flaws Its a good film if you check the overall aspect. It could have been better if director had rechecked some scenes to avoid some errors. But its fine if you not go with high expectations. It tells about the mysterious events that occur on the double road flyover with great social message added to it. I recommend you to watch it but without much expectations.

My rating- 4/5(Brilliant Mystery Thriller and one of the best movie's of 2016)