Review Overview
Performances
Plot & Narration
Technical Aspects and Music
A decent, formulaic whodunit.
Arun Vaidyanadhan's latest directorial Nibunan, is a smartly written whodunit that's diluted by its cast and pretentiousness. The film has its positives and negatives in balanced proportions, and ends up as a watchable thriller with a handful of good moments.
Cast: Arjun, Prasanna, Varalaxmi, Vaibhav, Sruthi Hariharan & others
Cinematography: Arvind Krishna
Music: S Navin
Editing: Sathish Suriya
Stunts: Anbariv
Written & Directed by: Arun Vaidiyanathan
Produced by: Passion Studios
Release Date: 28-07-2017
Run Time: 02:07:00
Arun Vaidyanadhan’s latest directorial Nibunan, which also happens to be Action King Arjun’s 150th film, is a smartly written whodunit that’s diluted by its cast and pretentiousness. The film has its positives and negatives in balanced proportions, and ends up as a watchable thriller with a handful of good moments.
The film has Arjun and his team cracking a hard case, running behind a serial killer. What’s nice to see is the personal context and a medical twist which the director adds to spice up the proceedings and successfully grab some interest. Though there is a certain amount of pretentiousness, Arun keeps the clock ticking with his clues being untied at regular intervals with minimal confusions in the flow. It’s good that the team has not tried to aim too high, achieving their small targets in the right fashion and presenting a basic thriller.
But just when you think that things are moving in the right direction, the underperforming cast begins to unveil its flaws. Even with Arjun proving that he can kick ass after all these years, the supporting cast should have been picked with much care. While Prasanna is confused between being a clever problem solver and being reduced to a laughing stock at places, Varu is a misfit in the role of a brilliant woman cop. Even the final reveal does not pay off in full thanks to these reasons.
Nibunan is lucky to be technically strong, thanks to Arvind Krishna’s camera and Navin’s near perfect background score.
By the end of it all, we are just left with a satisfactory thriller which actually had the potential to make it really big. Arun Vaidyanadhan shows great promise in writing crime thrillers than making it, and that’s the main takeaway from this film.