Dhuruvangal Pathinaaru is an unexpected but solid debut from Karthik Naren. The premise is a basic whodunit, surrounding a supposed suicide, a mysterious hit and run accident and a woman's disappearance. Although it is a very basic concept, Karthik Naren has written a very unique screenplay for this film that works excellently especially with a second viewing. Its pretty much hard to fail with a whodunit at least in the first half or so of a film. Even though countless films use it, there is always the base suspense element which the premise provides by default, so even if all else goes wrong, this default "whodunit" suspense is there to compensate. However this is nowhere near a cliched thriller as Karthik Naren does much more than that, by creating a realistic and grounded world bolstered by a non-linear screenplay very much akin to that of pulp fiction and City of God.
We see different incidents and occurences from different narrative view points and perspectives, which flawlessly intertwine and fit together like jigsaw pieces to provide a wholesome view at the end of the film. Perspective is a very important theme in this film. The very first scene will seem cliched; A masked "psycho killer" walks into a house and seemingly murders a couple. But when contrasted at the end of the film when the true events are shown, and near the middle when we see Deepak's theory, it all makes sense. Furthermore insert a dialogue when a character tells Deepak "don't think like a typical police officer". The speciality of this film is Karthik Naren's subtle subtext. We see the whole film through Deepak's perspective of other people's perspectives: A chinese box narrative. A twist at the end of the film gives this idea much more prominence and also provides the film with its emotional crux (There is a flaw with this that I will come back to in the end).
Another think that I love about this film is its consistent tone. It stays true to itself. The director has married himself to a thriller and he stays faithful to the wife of his chosen genre throughout the film. There isnt a random affair with a romantic track or a night fling with a comedy narrative. This is true even in its use of violence; What is present is minimal and realistic.There is almost no onscreen violence in terms of fight or action sequences...and in that sense this film is unique as it creates intensity without using violence. What makes it unique is that it is a combination between Nolan (its play on perspective) and Hitchcock (the constant maintenance of suspense).
Karthik's attention to detail is also mostly good. "Mostly" because there are a couple of scenes where attention to detail would have enhanced this film further. For example, it rains during the night of the crime. However, the next day morning everything is completely dry. Apart from this, in terms of the plot, all the details are important and have relevance in furthering the plot. But even nuances that aren't important for the plot enhance the film by grounding it in reality. Take the scene where Rahman walks in and out of the police station, there are many conversations taking place in the background that create the atmosphere of a police station well. Or even take the eager film students participating in a short film competition, where one of the students is lazy and is unresponsive to a phone call.
All the characters used in this film are relevant to progress the plot. And they all have small characteristics that stand out and make them unique. Rahman's performance as a guilt-ridden, flawed and haunted police officer is very subtle, nuanced and yet effective in a classic Rahmanesque way. He is probably the most three dimensional character in this film, as the dilemma he faces is a very human one and one that most humans are fallible to. However, in a crucial twist at the end of the film we are required to emote with a particular character which one can definitely emote with, but the intensity and power of the twist would have been higher if this particular character had been developed to the extent Rahman was.
Overall, this film was a solid debut, with a unique narrative, very well executed twists and a thriller with a refreshingly consistent tone of mystery and suspense.
We see different incidents and occurences from different narrative view points and perspectives, which flawlessly intertwine and fit together like jigsaw pieces to provide a wholesome view at the end of the film. Perspective is a very important theme in this film. The very first scene will seem cliched; A masked "psycho killer" walks into a house and seemingly murders a couple. But when contrasted at the end of the film when the true events are shown, and near the middle when we see Deepak's theory, it all makes sense. Furthermore insert a dialogue when a character tells Deepak "don't think like a typical police officer". The speciality of this film is Karthik Naren's subtle subtext. We see the whole film through Deepak's perspective of other people's perspectives: A chinese box narrative. A twist at the end of the film gives this idea much more prominence and also provides the film with its emotional crux (There is a flaw with this that I will come back to in the end).
Another think that I love about this film is its consistent tone. It stays true to itself. The director has married himself to a thriller and he stays faithful to the wife of his chosen genre throughout the film. There isnt a random affair with a romantic track or a night fling with a comedy narrative. This is true even in its use of violence; What is present is minimal and realistic.There is almost no onscreen violence in terms of fight or action sequences...and in that sense this film is unique as it creates intensity without using violence. What makes it unique is that it is a combination between Nolan (its play on perspective) and Hitchcock (the constant maintenance of suspense).
Karthik's attention to detail is also mostly good. "Mostly" because there are a couple of scenes where attention to detail would have enhanced this film further. For example, it rains during the night of the crime. However, the next day morning everything is completely dry. Apart from this, in terms of the plot, all the details are important and have relevance in furthering the plot. But even nuances that aren't important for the plot enhance the film by grounding it in reality. Take the scene where Rahman walks in and out of the police station, there are many conversations taking place in the background that create the atmosphere of a police station well. Or even take the eager film students participating in a short film competition, where one of the students is lazy and is unresponsive to a phone call.
All the characters used in this film are relevant to progress the plot. And they all have small characteristics that stand out and make them unique. Rahman's performance as a guilt-ridden, flawed and haunted police officer is very subtle, nuanced and yet effective in a classic Rahmanesque way. He is probably the most three dimensional character in this film, as the dilemma he faces is a very human one and one that most humans are fallible to. However, in a crucial twist at the end of the film we are required to emote with a particular character which one can definitely emote with, but the intensity and power of the twist would have been higher if this particular character had been developed to the extent Rahman was.
Overall, this film was a solid debut, with a unique narrative, very well executed twists and a thriller with a refreshingly consistent tone of mystery and suspense.