U Turn : A Well crafted thriller 

U Turn is the official remake of the superhit Kannada movie, Samantha can take pride in her role as Rachana; an investigative reporter who gets into the thick of a crime that centers around a U turn on the top of a flyover. While most of these bilingual movies are done with below average production values by trying to balance either language, U turn is better in trying to keep the regional flavors in trying to cater Telugu and Tamil audience. The 128 minute ordeal keeps you right on the edge of the seat with each turn taking through new chapters of mystery.

Its an absolute delight when you see heroines taking lead in a movie, for various reasons; they don’t need a mass song, undying action sequence nor a particular scene that shows the lead brilliant than everyone in the movie. U turn takes cue from what we see almost every single day, people who fail to obey traffic rules, that negligence in understanding what the consequences would be. Pawan the director who helmed the original returns to direct the bilingual remake. In the process he stirs up a cocktail that has a heavy blend of thriller whiffed up with a tiny dose of super natural elements to give an engaging storyline.

Samantha is an upcoming journalist in TOI, her desperation to pen a story on people who want to take the short cut to reach their destination with a dangerous U turn kickstarts the movie. During one such investigation she finds herself wanted in the Police station after one of the traffic offenders who took a wrong U turn dies mysteriously. But he is not the only one dead, and there are more who died under mysterious circumstances. Samantha joins hands with the straight forward cop Aadhi to dig deeper and what they find out is shocking. With a thriller on the cards, its best you don’t hear the storyline and spoil the suspense which is the key to U Turn.

U Turn is engaging, that’s the first thing anyone will like about the flick. After a point of the time you forget about the characters and wonder what would happen next. Through the interval block it becomes a little predictable when the cause of the murders comes into picture, but thanks to Pawan for not going through the traditional way of revenge, instead dealing it innovatively. U Turn also relies heavily on its lead characters- Samantha, Aadhi and Rahul. It’s a roller coaster of sorts for Sam as she effortlessly gets into the role of Rachana a subtle yet determined reporter. She rises to her character in the best possible way, she is assisted by Aadhi the cop who has a nose of suspicions. Their combo works in every single aspect. Rahul’s role initially appears as just another charming boy (usually given to heroines), but is kept for better as the movie progresses. Poorna’s riveting BGM and Niketh’s keen camerawork through the night are such a relief.

The initial portions on love are kept to minimal however the director fails to capitalize a little bit in the post interval scenes and the screenplay starts to feel the drag. The dubbing for various artists looks little distorted at times, but again this is expected out of any bilingual. U turn is a good watch for those who love thrillers, it should certainly fulfil the thrills. A small act of kindness can result can make a big difference, the same goes for a mistake. A small mistake can present itself with big consequences. Stop taking traffic rules for granted, that is the moral of the story.

Verdict : 3/5