Director: Sarjun KM

Cast: Sathyaraj, Varalaxmi, Kishore, Vivek Rajgopal

‘Life opens up opportunities to you, and you either take them or you stay afraid of taking them.’-Jim Carrey

‘Echarikkai..’ is Sarjun KM’s debut film in Tamil cinema. The name however sounds familiar right? Yes, this is the same director who had come out with the much acclaimed short film ‘Lakshmi’ last year that took the internet by storm. His transition into full length feature films is no less impressive!

Thomas (Vivek Rajgopal) and his Uncle David (Kishore) are thugs who are looking for an ambitious opportunity to widen their net. They also have a past- an incident in their childhood had rendered David to prison for fifteen years. An opportunity presents itself to them in the form of Swetha (Varalaxmi) who seems to be an easy target to kidnap for a sizeable ransom. They do execute the kidnapping fairly easily but face a nemesis in Nataraj IPS (Sathyaraj), who is a retired police officer. Though Nataraj himself is battling personal problems involving his young daughter’s medical condition, he agrees to help Swetha’s father who insists on it even if he is unable to actively investigate in the field. Nataraj hence sets up an impromptu police control center at his own house with support from well wishing ex-colleagues in the Department and starts the investigation. What follows is an hour and a half of riveting mind games where each party tries every trick in the book to achieve their own objectives. There is also a surprising twist that is well placed in the script and  further fuels the thrill. Will Nataraj be able to rescue Swetha from the kidnappers before it is too late? The Director etches out a memorable climax that justifies the build up and keeps you at the edge of your seat till the end.

The biggest strength of the script is how each character’s personal story has been brilliantly blended into it. The final scene involving Sathyaraj and his daughter is beautiful and leaves a big mark. Sarjun ensures you see two faces of each character. This makes you sympathize with the ‘bad guys’ on some occasions and doubt the intentions of the ‘good’ characters on others. Sathyaraj steals the show with his charismatic performance while the others have played their part with equal aplomb. Karthik’s editing work is really slick and KS Sundaramurthy’s score is outstanding. Sudarshan’s cinematography is also exquisite and the frames brilliantly capture each character’s emotions. Overall, this is an emphatic debut attempt from Sarjun and we will look forward keenly to his upcoming films!

Overall rating: 3.5/5