Game Over Tamil Movie

"Game Over" as an experience triumphs, but as a movie, we were served with an abstract art piece that had an open-ended climax that might not be everyone's cup of tea! Jun 15, 2019 By Baranidharan Sivasankaran

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Gamification of a movie has been long in the thought process of filmmakers. Even a Netflix series, "Black Mirror" attempted to hand over the proceedings to the audience, allowing them to take control of the screenplay to an extent. While films don't enjoy the same luxury, to a degree "Game Over" has attempted to immerse the viewers into a scary game with a refreshing screenplay and brilliant background score augmented with superior sound design (so, strictly a theatrical watch!).

The movie's story takes the fantasy/horror route with a gamification treatment to the screenplay. Sapna (Tapsee), a video game addict, lives with her domestic help, Kala (Vinodhini) and leads a recluse life. The reason for her solitude gets revealed in stray montages that flash by wherein she has a dark past that results in her breaking down nervously now and then. On top of it, the tattoo that she manages to put on her wrist also begins to haunt her in its own way. Did she survive the ordeal?

As an afterthought, the movie's story came across as abstract. It was more in line with the director's debut movie, "Maya" - like a "fusion art" that straddles between the reel and real. A big letdown was that the viewers were served with abundant thrills and clueless proceedings, making them wait for the revelation at the end, but contrary to that, we don't get to know the reasons for the things that happened on screen. It was open-ended!

The open-ended climax could have appealed, had there been twists, but here there was hardly anything to behold. So, all we were served were the thrills which were brilliantly choreographed with cinematography that captured every emotion such that it traveled into the minds of the characters and the sound design that set the mood beautifully.

Tapsee as the panic-stricken obsessive gamer with a sour past has delivered a solid performance and has shown that she has traveled quite a long way since the "Aadukalam" days. Her lip sync was also quite well contained and appeared natural. Vinodhini Vaithyanathan had a meaty role as the unofficial sidekick.

The movie had a strong urban appeal, with the characters being more rooted in the city, and there was hardly anyone whom the B and C center audiences could relate to. However, with controversial games like PUBG and "Blue Whale" making a splash across the media, this movie might come across as a different "experience" across the general audience.

The tall order of creating a new genre in Kollywood by gamifying the movie watching experience has been kicked off by the young director, Ashwin Saravanan, with "Game Over." The biggest gripe was that the film could have benefited immensely with a more convincing twist and a revelation that pays off for the patience that the audience invested. However, the game has just begun. Interesting days ahead!