DROHI MOVIE REVIEW

In Kollywood, women directors normally prefer to debut with either a candy floss love story or a film with a strong issue close to their heart. However debutant director Sudha K Prasad, has decided to take the action route, with Drohi.

Sudha a former assistant of Mani Ratnam, has pulled it off by making an engrossing action packed film with some electrifying stunt scenes superbly shot by cinematographer Alphonse Roy and smartly edited by Sreekar Prasad. The all-women team of producers Mano Akkineni and Jaya Kalyana can be proud of their slick two-hour action drama.

The story is set in the badlands of Royapuram in North Chennai. Samy, a Brahmin boy, and Karuna grow up in the slums of Royapuram and attend the same school. Samy is tough as nails and violent by nature, while Karuna is a softie, over-dependent on his friend and will do anything for him. One day they see their class teacher Roja (Pooja) brutally murdered in the class room by a local thug for reporting on their nefarious activities to the authorities.

When the local police fail to take action, Samy and Karuna want to take revenge and using a blade, they kill the guy. It was Karuna's idea and planning but Samy's execution. They are caught by the cops. At the police station when they are brutally beaten up, Karuna breaks down and names Samy as the chap who committed the murder. They are left scot free thanks to a local politician, but from that day, Samy hates Karuna as he thought his friend squealed on him.

They grow up as the uneducated Samy (Srikanth) becomes the henchman of the local dada and drug smuggler Narayanan (Thyagarajan), while Karuna a brilliant student is appearing for his IPS interview! By now close friends have turned bitter enemies, with Samy cultivating and winning over Malar (Poorna), Karuna's sister. And Sruti (Poonam Bajwa) is madly in love with Karuna. A series of incidents drive them further apart, till a twist happens on a railway track.

For a film directed by a woman director, there is a lot of blood and violence, which is sort of justified by the gritty theme. For Srikanth, it is a comeback of sorts and he does a decent job, as he has put his best ever performance. He shines when he says those soliloquies tied up and left on the railway track, as every approaching train sounds his death bell. Vishnu in comparison has the lighter lover boy role, which he does with elan.

Among the ladies, it is Pooja who steals the show as the upright school teacher. Poorna and Poonam Bajwa have hardly anything to do than singing the songs. Thyagarajan is menacing as the gangster.

Topline work is elicited from cameraman Alphonse Roy, whose close up shots highlight the agony of the characters, while art director Rajeevan's sets has made it look so realistic. The action scenes choreographed by Dhilip Subbarayan is awesome especially the climax fight between the lead actors. Music of Selvaganesh is okay, with Saama, Saama.. being the pick of the lot.

If you want to nit pick, you can say there is no comedy in the film. The entire film revolves around the two male leads, which at times become a bit dreary. Sudha has succeeded to a certain extent with the action theme, but the film could have been better with a more focused and to- the-point screenplay.

Verdict- Racy and Taut