Vismaya: A smart thriller

Being the 150^th film of Arjun Sarja, the hype surrounding Vismaya was huge among fans, and what trasnpires on the silver screen is a movie that manages to extract thrills and nuggets of applause from a display of the vagaries of human psyche.

Arun Vaidyanathan’s smart thriller has intellect and artistic impressions that touch the soul. Albeit cleverly stitched as a thriller and slow-paced, Arun’s thoughts seem to have toned down in the second half resulting in a cliched climax. Though the director connects the Aarushi murder case to his crime story, the impact is lame.

Cast: Arjun Sarja, Sruthi Hariharan, Varalaxmi Sarathkumar, Prasanna
Director: Arun Vaidyanathan

As a successful investigative officer, Ranjit Kalidoss (Arjun Sarja) is given charge of pursuing a mysterious psychotic serial killer. The killer plans his murders perfectly, leaving clues of his next victim using astrological signs and number games. Along with Ranjit is a team of officers, including Vandana (Varalaxmi Sarathkumar) and Joseph (Prasanna). Ranjit, who is experiencing the onset of Parkinson’s disease, is challenged by the mind games, where he has to use intelligence to crack the clues. Through the process of his investigation, he gets to know that he is the killer’s next target.  

Arun Vaidyanathan has created a role that suits Arjun’s age. It marks low on action, but high on reasoning and comprehension. Arjun is convincing as an investigating officer as well as a family person. Varalakshmi and Prasanna lend good support to the storyline, while Jayaram Karthik comes in as a surprise package. Sruthi Hariharan has justified her role as Ranjit’s wife.

The background score and signature style music by S Navin is one of the film’s highlights. Cinematographer Arvind Krishna has remained faithful to the theme of a crime thriller.

Vismaya, which means surprise, could bring out different perspectives, and whether it amazes you is for you to find out.