UberReelz ..CRITICal Stuff !!

YAVARUM NALAM (TAMIL , 2009)

Director : Vikram Kumar

Cast : Madhavan , Neetu Chandra


" Yavarum Nalam " , is another attempt at trying to scare the living daylights out of the audience.

This is the story of Manohar (Madhavan), who with his joint-family moves into an apartment 13B , in a huge building . The large family has enough fun and frolic together. But later on realize that all is not well . Manohar realizes that the images unfolding on a soap opera " Yavarum Nalam ", reflect the immediate future of his family. And when things start getting nasty , he feels the need to put an end to this.

The movie then follows his attempt at finding out the reason and truth behind eerie happenings like his image getting distorted in his mobile phone , the lift not working only when he sets foot in it , the milk getting wasted etc...

The movie does not succumb to the usual horror cliches like blood spill all over the
place , women clad in white with long hair etc. The movie is a sensible attempt at trying to scare the viewer. Using the concept of the idiot-box , which we are all addicted to , the Director tries to spin a web of horror , but manages to just make the mark.

The movie does have its share of scares , but they are very few . You do realize 20 minutes into the movie , that this is not the usual horror flick , and is something much better. But then , this movie is made as if its supposed to scare you , and sadly , it did not scare me.

The characters are normal everyday people , especially Manohar's family , who look like they will suffer a nervous breakdown if they miss their daily quota of soap operas . But then , they hardly help in the movie's progress.

Although the logic of the movie sounds a bit far-fetched , we always have to provide some leeway for the horror/thriller genre of films. But then the novel concept of using the TV as a base to drive the scares , almost ends up falling flat on its face... especially towards the second half , whose logic I guessed long ago. I knew it would be about a past murder , waiting to be avenged... sadly , it came true , and I did not need a TV to tell me that.

Screenplay is probably the biggest drawback of the movie. I was ashamed , to be frank , to almost fall asleep on at least 3 or 4 occasions , in what is supposed to be a Thriller . The movie could have been cut down by at least 20 minutes , and the 2 songs in between hardly serve any purpose. The intelligent plot , is badly let down by some unwanted sequences , which test the patience of the viewer.

Acting by Madhavan is nothing great , but he is his dependable best as always . Playing the role of Manohar the man who loves his family and is willing to go to any length to save his family , this is not exactly the greatest role he has played so far , nor does it offer any scope for extraordinary acting . However he has come up with a fine job , nevertheless. The rest of the cast come up with decent performances.

But I felt , the real hero of the movie has to be the man behind the camera P.C. Sreeram . This legendary cinematographer has taken this movie to completely new heights , technically. The camera plays with the viewer all through the movie , and helps a lot in sustaining the dark mood.

There are many flaws in the movie. How does only Madhavan manage to notice the connection between the serial and his family , when its staring them in the face all the way ?? And have not we had enough of the "death being avenged" stories in our movies ?? And what was the need to include a song in the middle of the movie ?? And the dialogues are very plain and ordinary , and seem to be written by a novice. Better dialogues could have made the performances appear much more alluring.

Overall this movie could have been much much much better . Such a novel attempt , has just managed to make the mark. Thankfully , things fell into place before I felt like running out of the movie hall.

I will go with a generous 3 out of 5 for "Yavarum Nalam ". It could have easily been a 4 out of 5 , only if it did not move at a snail's pace in many places.

VERDICT : 3 / 5 ( Above average and worth a watch )