Mercury Tamil Movie
Director Karthik Subbaraj who prefers to make a difference through content and screenplay has once again wielded the megaphone with Mercury, a silent thriller. This time he has tampered with the most basic ploy of storytelling - dialogues.
Of course, history reflects that silent films were powerful in their own way and tends to bring out the best in the artists and technicians. The last one in India being Pushpak ('Pesum Padam' in Tamil), directed by the legendary Singeetham Srinivasa Rao, the movie was an act of genius. It's no wonder that Karthik doffed his hat as a mark of respect for all the silent films including Pushpak during the start of the film. But the big question remains whether Karthik managed to pull rabbits off his hat this time?
The movie is about 5 deaf and dumb youngsters (Indhuja, Sananth, Deepak, Shashank and Anish) who get caught in a quagmire involving the murder of a stranger. The events surrounding the murder and further consequences form the movie's plot.
Intriguing at first, the movie kicks off showcasing the cursed lives of people who were subjected to mercury poisoning. Then, on predictable grounds the deaf and dumb characters were established with a blaring music played in the background, without them realizing how loud it could be and their friendly banters between each other. A breezy romance between Indhuja and Sananth was also unwound within that short time. The scene where Sananth proposes and the gift that he offers Indhuja was smartly woven into the story even at a later point, which was chilling.
The actors somehow do not earn the sort of empathy from the audiences. The deaf and dumb characters at many points seem to come across as actors who play an extended session of dumb charades. However, the minute of nuances like people unaware of the sounds at various points was handled well and contributed greatly towards building the thrills in the movie.
Prabhudeva in a negative shade was perfect and scary. Towards the end, he not only earns our sympathy but proves that his acting has come a long way through 2 decades. Among the youngsters, Indhuja continues to impress with her expressive eyes. She brings out a plethora of emotions through her eyes and body language. Sananth and Deepak were the other notable characters.
Of course, the movie had its own share of forced subplots and logical question marks. The major one being the youngsters being driven back to the murder spot in search of an iPod. Ok, there was a justification for that at the beginning, but still, being a much more sensible filmmaker Karthik could have thought of a more compelling reason.
The music was the soul of the movie and imbues life into many scenes. Especially in the climax where there is an emotional connect, the percussions were at their best. During the thrilling encounters, the minute of sounds catch our ears, thanks to a brilliant sound design. Overall, the technical department has done a great job!
The movie comes across as a calculated experiment from a filmmaker who is willing to go that extra mile to deliver something engaging and unique. On that count alone, such films should be given their dues.
MOVIE REVIEWS