Movie: Zebra
Rating: 2/5
Banner: Old Town Pictures - Padmaja Films
Cast: Satya Dev, Daali Dhananjaya, Sathyaraj, Priya Bhavani Shankar, Sunil Verma, Sathya Akala, Jeniffer Piccinato and others
Additional screenplay: Yuva
Music: Ravi Basrur
DOP: Satya Ponmar
Editor: Anil Krish
Production Designer: N Chinna
Stunts: Rabin Subbu
Produced by: SN Reddy, Bala Sundaram, Dinesh Sundaram
Written and Directed by: Eashvar Karthic
Release Date: November 22, 2024
Satyadev is undeniably talented, but his recent films have failed to resonate with audiences. He has been experimenting with action thrillers in an effort to leave a lasting impression. Zebra is his latest attempt.
Let’s see if he succeeds this time.
Story:
Surya (Satyadev) works at a bank, while his girlfriend Swathi (Priya Bhavani Shankar) is employed at another bank. When Swathi gets into trouble due to a typing error, Surya uses his skills to bail her out.
What seems like a one-off incident soon spirals into a series of complications, bringing him face-to-face with Adi (Daali Dhananjaya), a powerful business broker.
Surya's actions inadvertently result in ₹5 crore of Adi’s funds being transferred to another account.
Adi gives Surya a four-day deadline to deposit ₹5 crore into the account of Gupta (Sunil), a key player in a major deal Adi is working on.
The rest of the story unfolds as Adi races against time to complete the transaction, navigating obstacles from the police and his own associates.
Artistes’ Performances:
Satyadev delivers a solid performance as a typical, intelligent banker, maintaining a consistently tense expression throughout, which suits the role well.
Daali Dhananjaya shares equal prominence with Satyadev, receiving heroic introductions and engaging fight sequences. He pulls off his role impressively.
Priya Bhavani Shankar’s character lacks the depth and prominence typically associated with a heroine, making her role less impactful.
Satya adds occasional humor to the narrative, while Sunil does a decent job as the villain. However, Sathyaraj’s character falls short of making a strong impression.
Technical Excellence:
The film boasts a high budget, which is evident on screen. The rich cinematography, grand locations, and Ravi Basrur’s high-energy background score lend the film a polished and slick appearance.
However, the film’s excessive length is a significant drawback, and it requires substantial editing.
Highlights:
High concept
Richness
Drawback:
Monotonous sequences in second half
Never ending episodes
Money Heist-inspired sequences
Confusing narration
Analysis
Films made about banking scams and financial frauds make interesting subjects for thrillers, but the challenging aspect is to make the scenes understandable. Director Eeshwar, known for "Penguin," begins this film with such a scene, where it is packed with confusion due to too much of banking jargon. The film's title card only appears after this lengthy episode concludes.
The presentation links the characters of Sunil and Daali Dhananjay to a single problem, showcasing Satyadev's proficiency in banking and technology. Audience understand that Satyadev is doing something intelligently, being the hero of the film, but they hardly understand what actually he is doing.
When we begin to warm up for this subject, the troubles arise. After an hour, we start to sense that the director is trying to flaunt his intelligence by creating unnecessary obstacles for the protagonist, thereby prolonging the story beyond its necessary length.
After a certain point, it becomes evident that the story has already concluded, yet the director continues to prolong it with various contrived scenarios. The entire second half gives you a yawn until the pre climax episode of bank robbery.
In the entire second half, the situations related to the hero swindling money from his own bank vault and the sequences that are shown are watchable but happen for the convenience of the story rather than looking natural. Plus, the whole episode looks like a copy of the web series “Money Heist," which has been copied by many filmmakers, especially Tamil directors. So, it looks routine.
Added to that, the role of Daali Dhanajaneya and his lengthy story fail to resonate with us. At one time, Daali looked more like the main protagonist than Satyadev.
The subplot involving Sathyaraj is example how the director makes the film lengthy without adding much value of many characters and episodes.
“Zebra” is another thriller that starts positively and maintains its momentum for a while but slips after a point. The director misses the opportunity to make a taut and intelligent thriller by cooking up convenient episodes and never-ending confusing moments.
Bottom line: Confusing
