Echarikkai movie review: A film that can be enjoyed only partially
Director: Sarjun KM
Cast: Sathyaraj, Varalaxmi Sarathkumar, Kishore, Vivek Rajagopal, Yogi Babu.
Sarjun who hit the limelight with his controversial shorts Lakshmi and Maa has debuted in silver screen with a thriller Echarikkai. Though credit should be given to him for admitting that the British thriller The Disappearance of Alice Creed inspired him, it needs to be seen as how the audiences would respond to his adaption which might have looked good on paper.
The story begins with 18-year-old David (Kishore) who kills his sister’s husband after he comes to know that the latter murdered his sister. And his 5 –year- old nephew Thomas (Vivek Rajgopal) is witness to this. David asks Thomas to admit the crime and go to jail as being a juvenile he may not be punished severely, but the latter deceives.
Fast-forward, David is back after serving in the prison for 14 years and traces Thomas who is now a smalltime criminal. They hatch a plan to kidnap Shwetha (Varalaxmi) daughter of a real estate developer (Jayakumar), to extract money from him. Meanwhile, Shwetha’s dad approaches a retired police officer Natraj (Sathyaraj) for help, since he wants to syphon off his black money. But Natraj cannot move out of his house, as his daughter who suffers from a rare medical condition needs constant attention. However, he takes up the case, as he also needs money for his daughter’s treatment by setting up the workstation at home. Somewhere in the midway, there’s a revelation, which brings a new angle to the story.
Veteran Sathyaraj is in full form and he has done a commendable job. Varalaxmi could not make any impact in a poorly written role. And her romance with Vivek Rajagopal is not convincing. And somewhat you hardly feel for Varu who is held in captive. Kishore as usual impresses with his gritty tone and body language. Yogi Babu’s inclusion is purely for marketing purposes. The first half is quite engaging, but post interval the screenplay lacks the punch needed for a genre of this nature. There’s a subtle message in the end. The film can be enjoyed only partially!
