The following article is by IndiaGlitz user Biju Peter and it is not IndiaGlitz's take towards anyone or anything..

Vishal is back with “Samar” produced by Ramesh of Jaya Balaji Real Media and directed by Thiru (has done Theeratha Vilayattu Pillai with Vishal earlier). There have been several issues with the film right from the initial stages till the release, but finally the film has released today for Pongal. There has been lot of hype surrounding the film as Vishal was supposed to have played the role of a forest trekker and is paired against Trisha for the first time.

The film starts off on a high showing Shakthi (Vishal) as the son of a forest ranger. In the introduction he is shown taking on the bad guys who enter the forest to cut trees. That brings the entry of a villain who threatens the father and son. It makes you think that you are in for an action treat. But the forest connection ends there. Immediately the director reveals the love story of Shakthi and Rupa (Sunaina), which breaks up in the following scene itself. Rupa goes to Bangkok. Soon after that Shakthi gets a request from Sunaina to fly to Bangkok to sort things out. On the way he meets Maya (Trisha) who agrees to help him in Bangkok.

But strange things await him the moment he lands in Bangkok. From here it’s a maze of confusion on screen and for the audience as well – gangsters who try to kill Shakthi, kidnappers who ask him money, some unknown people who give him security assuming him to be a business tycoon etc. By the time Shakthi realizes that he is being trapped and try to find out who the other Shakthi is, things take a surprise twist and all who believed him to be the real business tycoon refuses to believe the same and he gets arrested as well. Does this sound interesting until now? But wait …… there is more confusion in the second half and it gets worse after the introduction of the villains….who is in to big time betting. Somewhere the unit felt that making the audience confused is same as making a thriller.

Thiru has picked up a plot which could have been an interesting if presented with apt script. But here the screenplay falters big time and the characterization of some roles including the villains falls flat inspite of having seasoned actors like Manoj Bajpai and JD Chankravarthy playing them. Though the villains looks stylish and fly in private jets they are shown on par with 80’s villains like Manohar and Nambiar laughing all the time which tests our patience.

Vishal does not have much to do; he looks confused himself in most of the scenes. However, he excels in the fight sequences, which is the only positive point of the film. Trisha is back on screen after a gap ( I think VTV), looks beautiful and does a decent job. Sunaina has only three scenes and a song. There is a long list of great supporting actors like Manoj Bajpai, JD, Sampath, Jayprakash, John Vijay, Azhagam Perumal, Sriman but sadly all are wasted.

Cinematography is good and brings out the life of Bangkok on screen.Except for “Azhago Azhagu” the other songs are a big bore and just add to the pain of watching the film. The accident in the end reminds you of 'Talaash'. There is no comedy track or even enjoyable scenes in the film but there are plenty of stupid dialogues where you end up laughing. When you see Sriman talking in Thai and walking alongside Sampath, Jayprakash seriously in the last scene, we can’t avoid laughing. In one scene Shakthi asks Maya if she thinks he has gone ‘mad’ - I heard the audience shouting from back it’s not only Shakthi but all of us who came to see this film. That sums it all.

This looks like a season of movies based on games. But this is not worth betting.

Rating - 5/10