Movie: Vila (Pizza 2)
Rating: 3/5
Banner: Good Cinema Group, Studio South Productions
Cast: Ashok Selvan, Sanchita Shetty, Nasser and SJ Surya
Cinematography: Deepak Kumar Pathi
Music: Santosh Narayan
Producer: Good Friends
Director: Deepan Chakravarthy
Release Date: 15/11/2013
The number of viewers who like watching horror films may be limited, but one cannot underestimate their sense and sensibilities. If there is an option of watching a good horror film, then the film is bound to find audiences.
Story:
Jebin (Ashok Selvan) is a contemporary writer. Following the sudden death of his father (Nassar), he is forced to sell his house to repay the loans. Aarthi (Sanchita Shetty) plays his love interest. During this time, he finds out that his father had bought a huge villa for him in Bheemli. Jebin goes to Bheemli to check out the property and to write his second book there.
In the Villa, he finds lots of paintings of his late father. One day, he opens a sealed room to find a series of paintings which depict the events in his life. He realizes that they had been painted way before the events actually took place. Some paintings even showcase his future. A clearly disturbed Jebin decides to sell the Villa. But that poses a problem. Vexed and scared, he decides to figure out the secret behind the paintings. The rest of the story shows what emerges out of his research.
Artistes’ performances:
The main protagonist Ashok Selvan is a man of limited skills. Actually, to give an emotional role to someone of his caliber is a huge risk. Had the character been given to a more seasoned actor, he would have taken Villa to a different level altogether. As for Ashok, he could not emote even basic emotions like anger and fear.
The heroine Sanchita Shetty fails to attract the audience.
Sethupathi and Ramya played key role in making Pizza a success. It once again reminds us that it is very important for such films to have a good lead pair.
Some of the other cast go overboard with their acting skills. Especially the guy who plays the broker and hero’s friend overact.
Nasser and SJ Surya are seen in small parts.
Technical team:
Background plays a very crucial role in this genre of films. Santosh Narayan literally ties you down with the background score.
Dilip Kumar’s cinematography is another big asset for the film. Though Villa is a low budget film, Deepak has ensured that the framing and lighting scheme are on par with a big budget film.
Dialogues tend to stretch quite a bit. Barring the hero, the rest of the cast talk a lot all along the film.
Editing is really good in the second half. Must make a special mention of the quality of dubbing. You cannot make out that it is a Tamil film dubbed into Telugu.
Coming to director Deepan Chakravarthy, he has chosen a complex subject and managed to successfully present it. You can make out all the research that went into the making of the film. Director’s intelligence shines through in some scenes. The scene before the interval and the way Deepan ends the film shows his superior directorial skills.
Highlights:
- Screenplay
- Music
- Cinematography
Analysis:
Having graduated from television to movies, Deepan Chakravarthy makes a sharp and crisp film. Each and every scene of the film fits beautifully into the script.
Even though a couple of scenes seem irrelevant in the first half, by the time one ends up watching the second half, one is convinced of the plot.
This is one major difference between Pizza and Villa. Also, the songs are limited in this one.
The director has taken care that the story and narration do not lose focus. The duration is of one and half hours and that amply helps the film.
Deepan has taken care not to deal with ghosts and other spooks.
In fact, he touches upon supernatural powers and negative energies and logically takes the story forward. It takes a good script to make a movie that revolves around two characters set in one Villa. And the director succeeds in his efforts.
The graphics used just before the interval and during the climax are natural and enhance the cinematic experience.
The film also has a lesson or two for our Telugu film-makers. It’s a norm for Telugu film-makers to go in for some extra scenes or songs to make up for two hours of running time.
However, Pizza and Villa prove that films that fall into the horror genre are better off with short duration. Since they usually have a one line concept around which the story is woven, it works best for such films.
Villa is a Tamil dubbing film, but it does not feel like one. Lots of care has been taken while dubbing it into Telugu. It has been covered in CG without any glitches.
Bottomline: If you like horror genre, then this one’s for you.
(Venkat can be reached at [email protected] or https://twitter.com/greatandhranews)
