Diary -  A well written breathtaking roller coaster ride

Arulnithi has a fan following on his own due to his penchant for choosing different scripts from the run of the mill and his specialty is of course the thriller genre.  His recent outings did not bring cheer to either himself or his fans.  Is 'Diary' the return to form for the intense actor? A big YES!

The film opens interestingly as Kishore and his wife travel in Ambassador car on the hairpin bend roads of the Nigiris Ghats.  He jokingly tells his wife that a ghost haunts bend number 13 and has caused several accidents.  The car does crash at the location and the couple lose their lives.  Cut to Varadhan (Arulnithi) a trainee Sub Inspector of police is asked to choose a case for training purposes by his instructor.  Varadhan closes his eyes and blindly picks a file which turns out to be an unsolved murder of a honeymoon couple in Ooty sixteen years back.  The murderers had apparently killed them for the jewels but could never be traced.  As the SI reopens the case and tries to gather evidence a TNSTC bus starts at 12 am from Ooty to Coimbatore and the murderers board the bus along with a widow,, a family of four a young couple eloping and a few others.  The investigation goes on on one side while the bus passengers experience terrifying occurrences.   Did the hero crack the case and what is the connetion between the haunting of the bend, the bus and murders are questions that are answered brilliantly in 'Diary'.

There is something about Arulnithi that makes him the perfect choice to headline any type of thriller and he is on familiar grounds here.  Though he played a cop recently this one has more layers to it and the tall and fit hero gives yet another solid performance.   His action sequences inside the bus and his emoting in the climax portion both get equal applause from audiences.  Pavithra Marimuthu a Malaysian actress debuts as heroine and has done a neat job as a cop and the love interest of the hero.  Sharaa appears as one of the passengers of the bus and for a change brings down the house with his comedic one-liners and counters.  The same cannot be said about Chaams who plays a police driver and Jayaprakash also appears as a cliched politician villain.  The rest of the cast have all given fine performances throughout.

There are many pluses in 'Diary' and the chief one is the multilayered screenplay that keeps the audience glued to the screen from frame one till the climax.   The next is the pacing of the screenplay which keeps on moving forward throwing surprises and twists at regular intervals.   Further it is a fresh story based on real events and phenomena that are authentically explained in the end.  The manner in which every incident and character is connected with no loose end is laudable.  The climax is powerful and touching at the same time as two sons go beyond time in search of their mother and parents.

On the flip side the mandatory love track is a bit of a speedbreaker and a few cliched scenes, songs and dialogues make a jarring note.  The dangling bus portions in the end are a little off colour and illogical.

Ron Ethan Yohan's songs in spite of the ordinary placements in the film are pleasant to hear.  He has done no harm to his reputation as a thriller specialist when it comes to the background score.   Aravinnd Singh the DOP is one of the main heroes of the film right from setting the eerie tone at the start to innovating with angles that present the pregnant danger without showing much in terms of the horror.  SP. Raja Sethupathi with his editing has let the film hurtle at a brisk pace much like the bus where the major action takes place.  Art Director Raju.P and Action Director Pradeep Dinesh deserve special mentions for their terrific work.  Five Star Films has bankrolled this multilayered film with high production values.  Innasi Pandian, one of the writers of Chiyaan Vikram's 'Cobra' makes his debut as writer director.  With solid writing and near perfect execution he joins the list of first time directors who hit it out of the park on debut.

Verdict : Go for this innovative edge of the seat multilayered thriller