Overtake Malayalam Movie
Prior to shifting the mood of the film, director John leaves some hints here and there to keep us guessing. The debutant succeeds in whipping up the curiosity of the viewers when the giant truck starts to chase the car in which Nandan Menon (Vijay Babu) and Radhika (Parvatii Nair) are travelling. A perfect milieu of a road movie is finely crafted by John in "Over Take" with the support of riveting shots of different terrains. A journey from Bengaluru to Coimbatore by Nandan and his wife sets the premise of the film.
John hinges on umpteen shots of the chase most of the time and it's engaging. He leads us to expose the identity of the mysterious enemy behind the annoying chase. In this part, the director's inability to sustain the thrilling nature of the plot is revealed and it takes off the sheen of the story.
The whole expectations nosedive, leading to the rise of the situation where John shows his naivety in evolving a silly climax. A good attempt by the filmmaker till then goes awry. After a thrilling start, the whole action appears as a damp squib.
Vijay Babu tries his best in portraying the businessman while Parvatii Nair is not fully immersed into the emotions of the character. In the chasing sequences, the unconvincing and exaggerated scenes undermine the reality.
Cinematographer Ajayan Vincent deserves credit for the mind-blowing frames that amplify the mystery of the tale. Writer Anil Kunjappan gives up half-way the task of keeping it engrossing consistently. A crude treatment prevails in the last half of the film; a sort of yielding without any alternative.
'Overtake' keeps you engaged in parts, and it sullies all the excitement by forcefully attempting to bring about the suspense factor.