'Vikram' hit the screens this Wednesday. In this section, we are going to review the latest box office release.

Story:

The film takes off as an assassination thriller where a series of high-profile murders are executed by a mystery man. The Chief Minister of an Indian State and the Prince of Scotland are assassinated in quick succession. The dreaded assassin is now hunting for the head of the Russian Defence Minister in Russia.

It is now up to Interpol officer Aslan (Irfan Pathan) to chase the killer with whatever clues are at his disposal. The entry of a Criminology student named Judith Samson (Meenakshi Govindarajan) makes things easy for Interpol as well as the CBI, which is also hot on its heels.

The scene now shifts to Chennai where Mathi (Chiyaan Vikram), a maths teacher, turns out to be the killer. The rest of the film is about Mathi's motives, why he became an assassin named Cobra, his relationship with one Kadhir, his girlfriend (Srinidhi Shetty), and a corporate honcho named Rishi (Roshan Mathew).

Analysis:

The script attempts to give Vikram's caliber every chance to come to the fore. The interrogation scene in the second half is going to be seen as one of his best performances. The element of a psychological thriller is added with reasonable smartness. In this, director Ajay Gnanamuthu needs to be given a pat on the back. Vikram's multiple getups (read the Black priest, a rockstar, a Hong Kong man, etc) work to beef up the script.

'KGF' fame Srinidhi Shetty gets to be a part of a half-baked romantic track. Former Indian cricketer Irfan Pathan as Aslan is a minus. Roshan Mathew's character is not etched well and it's sad that he doesn't get to show his talent in a 3-hour-long film, even in the supposedly climactic climax. Mrinalini Ravi and Mia George are wasted. The presence of KS Ravikumar and Robo Shankar makes things all the more non-Telugu-ish.

'Cobra' is engaging in some respects. The first act is clear-cut, although the attempt at creating more-than-usual suspense can be seen through. The schizophrenic mindscape element adds heft to the drama. The interval twist is another winner.

However, the convoluted narration tires you out. The dialogues are contrived and hollow. The sentimental portions don't tug at the heartstrings. Loopholes in the investigation scenes are too many.

AR Rahman's songs can hardly be remembered. The BGM, though, is effective. Bhuvan Srinivasan's cinematography is able.

Verdict:

'Cobra' works in bits and pieces in the first half. The interval twist is fine. The second half has got an excellent scene in the interrogation room. But the film, overall, is confusing. The bloated nature of the narration gets on the audience's nerves. The writing is full of flaws and contrived ideas.