Vezham: A murder mystery that tries too hard to thrill

Vezham is a Tamil murder mystery that stars Ashok Selvan , Janani Iyer, Shyam Sundar and Iswarya Menon. This is director Sandeep Shyam’s debut film and set in Ooty, the movie traces the lives of Leena Joseph (Iswarya Menon) and Ashok Chandrasekharan (Ashok Selvan). As the film begins, we are introduced to a grumpy and moody Ashok and slowly the director takes us to the backstory of his life via Ashok’s narration to Preethi (Janani Iyer), an author, who comes to to reside at his place thanks to his friends Karthik and Divya. As Ashok narrates the story, we learn that Leena was the third victim of a serial killer in Ooty five years ago and how he has never been able to come to terms with her loss. Ashok and Leena become friends as kids through the shared bond of loneliness. Ashok loses his mother at the age of three and his elder moves away for college while Leena’s father leaves her with his grandfather at the age of five once her mother dies. The two fall in love eventually wanting to get married but things take a turn when her father returns with a terminal illness and she saves him. From Singapore, Leena comes back to her Ooty home to find her maid murdered and this trauma makes her reclusive and depressed. On her birthday, Ashok takes her out and that’s when the duo are attacked and Leena murdered. Who killed her? Was she the victim of a serial murderer? Will Ashok ever find out the truth? Ashok is obsessed with the mystery of Leena’s murder and the second half of the film is dedicated to him uncovering this mystery. Ashok Selvan has essayed the role of Ashok well on screen and has in fact, carried the film on his shoulders. Iswarya Menon stands out in the emotional scenes and Shyam Sundar is perfect for the role of the cop in the movie and is an able actor. Janani Iyer has a much smaller part to play but she is at ease as the writer who falls in love with Ashok. As for the direction this is director Sandeep Shaym’s first film and he has made a decent attempt in trying to keep the audience engaged in this thriller. Having said that, he has tried hard to thrill the audience by introducing too many twists in the second half. Had he focused on a few twists and made the narration more gripping, the second half would have been far more engaging. Too many characters suddenly make an appearance and the story starts meandering all over the place. There are logical loopholes that one can’t overlook like how Ashok tries to find the killer by using the killer’s voice or how he starts to commit murders in revenge with no repercussions. The cinematography is by Shakti Anand and given that it has been shot mostly in Ooty, the beautiful locales have been well captured on screen. Music director R Jhanu Chanter has given a good track in the film with ‘Maarum Uravae’. This movie is possibly a one-time watch. Latha Srinivasan is a senior journalist based in Chennai. Her passion is entertainment, travel, and dogs. Read all the  Latest News ,  Trending News ,  Cricket News ,  Bollywood News ,  India News  and  Entertainment News  here. Follow us on  Facebook,  Twitter and  Instagram.