Psycho - Mysskin's empathetic take on the psychopath
Mysskin is one of the few directors's who has a loyal fan following and he never fails to cater to their needs and they have even grown to adapt to his style of storytelling. Does his latest venture 'Psycho' delve deep into the brain mapping of a serial killer and does he manage to reach out to audiences beyond his own remains to be seen.
Psycho opens in Coimbatore in terrifying room in which a young girl lies tied on to a table begging for mercy as the psychopath approaches and butchers off her head, blood rushing out of the headless neck filling the screen. A police investigation starts in the next scene headed by a cop Muthu (Director Ram) who sings old A.M. Raja songs even when the victims kin cry to him to catch the killer. Elsewhere a blind musician Gowtham (Udayanidhi Stalin) listens to a radio jockey Dahini (Aditi Rao Hydari) interview a psychiatrist who explains to her (and to the audience) who a Psycho/Serial killer is and we get to know that the victim count is ten. Gowtham is in love with Dahini and follows her everywhere and atlast when she gives him a sniff of a chance she is abducted by the killer. The rest of the screenplay is whether the blind man can rescue the woman he loves or not along with a highly debatable psychoanalysis of the killer.
Udayanidhi Stalin plays the blind Gowtham without too much of a fuss and Mysskin has not taxed him too much anywhere. Aditi Rao Hydari with a dubbing voice that does not match manages more with her eyes to portray the pain of a girl held captive. Nithya Menen has a meaty supporting role as the disabled ex-cop who helps the hero and though her expressions are good she could have done better with her voice modulation which is a tad stagey. Newcomer Raj as the psycho killer has done what the director expected from him to the T and credit to him for conveying the humane inside the animal in the pre-climax. Ram has nothing much to do in the screenplay except pass on one more quirky characterization. Singampuli, Renuka, Aadukalam Narain form the rest of the supporting cast who pass muster.
What works best in 'Psycho' is the suspense that keeps the audience interested until the very end with curiosity about the villain though the payoff is far from satisfying. There is one poignant scene in which Nithya Menen guides Uday into the police station and when she asks him to linger on when her photo in uniform is found hanging there. Some of the dialogues hit home like when the pig stye caretaker tells Singam Puli that all are pigs and there are no upper or lowers castes there. The actress who has played Sister Rachel gives the chills and deserves the movie title all to herself.
On the downside there are logical loopholes galore in 'Psycho' and there is not even one character that the audience can relate to. Hence the pangs of love felt by Uday for Aditi, the camaraderie that Nithya enjoys with Uday or the empathy that Aditi allows to Raj never affect the audience. The film also fails in pinning the psychoanalysis of the main character leaving one feel that all that transpires on screen is more for drama than anything else. The shock value is lost after a couple of beheadings and the prosthetics could have been better in creating the dead bodies.
Isaigniani Ilayaraja's vintage presence is felt when the symphonic background score plays and in the three soulful songs "Neenga Mudiyuma", "Thaayin Madiyil" and "Unna Nenachhu". Tanveer Mir impresses with his cinematography long takes, frantic movements and aerial shots. M. Arunkumar has let the takes last forever in true Mysskin style and left to himself would surely have made it racier. Double Meaning Productions deserves praise for bankrolling this different attempt and the fact that they have not spared any expenses shows on screen. Mysskin has once again delivered a film that has his signature all over it and in spite of the flaws has his audiences cheering for him.
Verdict : Go for this suspenseful psychopath film with an unmistakable Mysskin touch on it.
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