Murder, mystery and intrigue

WHAT exactly is the recipe for a successful film? Throw in some action, a bit of comedy, mystery, murder, intrigue, beautiful people and you have the making of something good. Like in Vikrant, now showing in selected cinemas.

The Tamil film, starring Sri Kumar Harichandran, who is also the scriptwriter and associate director, is his first after he beat Rosyam Noor for the Best Actor award in 2006’s Malaysian Oskar awards for Ethirkaalam.

Vikrant proves that his win was no mere fluke. It’s no mere Sri Kumar vehicle either, as the other actors hold their own in this film.

A proudly Malaysian production shot entirely in Malaysia and featuring a lot of Putrajaya, Vikrant, while staying true to the Tamil film formula of murder and intrigue spiced with family drama and songs, tries to be a bit CSI Miami.

The story revolves around the lead character, Vikrant (Sri Kumar) who is the CEO of Peninsular Holdings. A successful businessman, his main nemesis is Matthew Nadarajan (Mansher Singh).

The way the entire story was orchestrated around a series of flashbacks through the main character’s testimonials puts an interesting spin to the story.

Priya (Shantini Thevasekamani), the love of Vikrant’s life who ended up dead before the end of the opening credits, did most of the talking from beyond the grave. It is through her and Vikrant’s sidekick Rishi that we learn most of the events that lead up to the discovery of her body in the pelting rain.

Focusing on the film throughout the two-and-the-half hours it took for the story to unfold was not difficult.

It was a who-dunnit, love story, family drama and gritty crime story all rolled in one.

I had my bet on who the actual killer was but was outfoxed by the producer.

The four song-and-dance routines were a riot of colour, fun and wardrobe changes.

It was a shame though that there were no subtitles for them. Non-Tamil speaking viewers, like me, were left guessing what the songs were about. And making the subtitles white was perhaps not the best way to go as they were often difficult to read.

Nonetheless, Vikrant will nonetheless intrigue you from beginning to end.