Kee movie review: Jiiva-starrer is a masala entertainer that tries too hard to be a cyber thriller

Debutant director Kalees has the right qualification to make a film since he’s a former associate of ace director Selvaraghavan. Kee, which releases in theatres today, 10 May, was supposed to be a techno cyber crime thriller, with Jiiva in the lead. But the cyber-thriller is packaged more as a masala entertainer and that leaves you frustrated as crass comedy, insipid romance and mushy sentiments are thrust into the narration. The 140 minutes long film, which was almost three years in the making, tests your patience. The basic idea that the director wanted to convey was how addictive we have become to our smart phones and how social media leaves behind foot prints about our thought processes and secrets in the wrong hands which can lead to danger. But Vishal’s Irumbu Thirai (2018) dealt with the same themes, and was a hit on release. In this film, the real problem about technology proliferation is, at best, dealt lightly as the focus seems to be more on songs and comedy bits.

Siddharth (Jiiva) is a college student and a hacker who helps his friends to look into their girl friends mobile phones or hack into question papers during exams. He is what you call an ethical hacker and leads a happy family life with his father (Rajendra Prasad) and a loving mother (Suhasini). At a pub he hacks into the mobile of a TV news reporter (Anaika Soti) and soon gets acquainted with her. She is investigating a crime where people get killed in “mysterious” accidents and suicides. Now she is in search of the kingpin behind the racket. Meanwhile Siddharth falls in love with a girl (Nikki Galrani) who sneaked up on him and his friend (RJ Balaji) during college exams. Suddenly the TV news reporter wants him to track down an elusive hacker (Govind Padmasoorya) behind all the accidents and ‘suicide’ of girls. Suddenly Siddharth finds out that the deadly hacker who takes control of his victim’s smart phones is after him. The film’s plot and story line is so predictable that by the time the climax rolls out you know exactly how it will end. It’s plain bad writing and execution with a lot of logical loopholes. Every tense scene is followed by slapstick comedy, songs and forced sentiments that are injected into the narrative. Actors like RJ Balaji look embarrassed doing such stupid scenes in the name of comedy. The long delay in the production can be seen in the way the film has been shot. Jiiva does his act well, while Nikki Galrani has hardly much to do. New boy Govind Padmasoorya is impressive as the deadly villain. The songs does not fit in with the narrative. The concept of Kee seems interesting in paper but falters in execution, leaving the film to be a tedious watch.