Yet another horror/thriller/ghost/psychological genre presentation from Vikram Kumar, whose previous creations include 13B (Yaavarum Nalam in Tamil and probably one of the best ghost thriller movie), 24 (the triple action Surya movie), Manam (a wonderful movie spanning 3 generations which was originally played by 3 generation star from Akkineni household) and couple of other movies as well. Kudos to the director for not meddling with what he was trying to tell and how, sticking to his strengths and having the ending as how it is.
The series start off with Naga Chaitanya, a corrupt reporter, trying to reach his wife and while searching for a charger he finds a box load of newspaper clippings. The clippings play a pivotal role throughout the series across all episodes and literally move the story forward. Of the 2 female leads, Priya bavani who plays his wife has a slightly bigger role than Prachi who plays his assistant. There is a surprise element which is maintained throughout the series and the final 2 episodes which reveal the reason may be bereft of any logic but if you see it as a ghost thriller logic is possibly the last thing to be looked into. There is a scene lifted from Drishyam which has been improved upon nicely. The lady police officer, Parvathy, who has a meaty role and decent one at that, may possibly be the seed for another season solely based on her and her investigative skills. Her investigation is nicely written and is quite sharp as well in many places. Pasupathy has a 2-episode role towards the end and possibly place a bigger role in “spirit”. One thing that stumped me was the role of rain. They must’ve wasted about a lake full of water in maintaining the rain scenes. It is not an over exaggeration at all, for in one scene, the car wipers are actually hidden on the amount of downpour and every outdoor scene involves copious amounts of water!! Possibly water charges would’ve been one of the sizable amounts on the production budget!
For those who are cool with a thriller series, despite the straightforward ending, this series would make perfect sense. Any story that makes you forget about logical loopholes when you are watching and only when the end credits role those queries raise, means the screenplay is quite engaging enough. Dhootha definitely delivers from that perspective and is worth a watch.
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By the way, the movie makers did a service to Chennai by draining the lake for the copious water scenes. It got filled back thanks to Michaung and reduced the flood to that extent !!