Movie review 'Vismaya': Sarja-ing ahead, even if the film is not

Movie: Vismaya
Cast: Arjun Sarja, Prasanna, Varalaxmi, Sruthi Hariharan
Director: Arun Vaidyanathan

A milestone in his illustrious career spread across several languages — Tamil, Kannada, and Telugu, Vismaya marks the 150th venture of Action King Arjun Sarja. The “gentleman” of action films, Sarja strikes a decent note with his portrayal to reach this milestone. Vismaya is a crime thriller revolving around a daring intelligent cop challenged by a psychopath serial killer.

Ranjith, a senior CID officer played by Arjun Sarja, has so far detected 99 cases successfully and faces a tough challenge in his 100th case. The film is another crime-based tale set on regular parameters — cops relentlessly chasing bad guys and finally nabbing them. And some twists and turns ensue. The surprise comes in the form of a background tale, inspired by the 2008 Noida double murder case of school girl Aarushi and the home help Hemraj.

An RTI activist is brutally murdered and the serial killer leaves a puzzle about his next target. While the killer goes on a killing spree, Ranjith fails to catch him. His two subordinates portrayed by Prasanna and Varalaksmi have some hilarious friendly interludes lacking seriousness. Arjun Sarja is the only saving grace in this film.

The challenge ahead gets tougher for the tough cop after he finds out that he is suffering from Parkinson’s Disease. Just like another filmy cop, nothing can stop him from shooting down the killer. When the going gets tough, the tough get going as Ranjith learns that he is the final target. While delving into why the cop is the serial killer’s last target, the story goes into flashback mode. Will Ranjith be killed? Or does he manage to catch the killer? While it’s not much of a thriller, Action King fans can revel in his acting, but for the rest, it’s just cliched. But we expect the Action King to continue till 200, and beyond!