Director Shyamaprasad is a crafty man whose films like Arike (2012) and Artist (2013) were subtle and original takes on relationships. However, his migration into the thriller/crime genre is hardly scintillating.
An orphan named Varun who has had a polished upbringing by his American foster parents still has qualms about him being brown and his parents being white. He grows up to become a detective (Sukumaran) with the Atlanta police which is currently investigating a case of serial killing throughout the country. Now, the investigation process and activities are handled rather dully by the writers, with the screenplay not providing much insight into the actual happenings. Everything is superficial. And by the time the plot becomes clear, it is half time already.
On the other side of the bland script are Hebbar (Pauly), an ambitious IT professional and his love interest Roshini (Bhavana), whose ex-husband is none other than Varun himself. So, now you get the idea as to how the story is interwoven. Unfortunately, by the time you complete watching the film (that is if you choose to), none of these protagonists are gonna matter. Because the plot of the film points to someone totally random and demands us to clap our hands.
Other than an extremely slow start, with sort of an anti-climactic narrative, the film takes you on a condensed character development study of the three main characters, played averagely by the actors. While I vote for Pauly for his seemingly out of place character portrayal, I also want to jibe at Sukumaran for his weird accent. But maybe that was a requisite.
The chief theme of the film is about how Indian professionals are targeted in foreign countries in the dawn of recession, coupled by some IT sector propaganda that is prevalent in the plot. Then there is an element about racism, which does not add traction to the already half-baked story. Thrills, if you start searching for it, seem to be hiding from its audience's sight, because in the 140 minutes, all you can find are some self-righteous dialogs, few walkie-talkie police commands, cleavage close-ups, and lots of character issues harbored by the characters.
One cannot call the story pretentious, because there is a hint of suspense that is present since the beginning, which if had been executed well, could have salvaged the film. And at the end, all the drama comes down to professional jealousy and discrimination. If one sits through the film expecting a twist at the end, all he/she is going to end up with is bits of bad writing, similar to those bits of corn that we find at the bottom of our popcorn basket - undesired and hard to chew. The film ends with a Buddha quote and that should be enough for one to decide if he/she wants to try this mindless drama, which can cause serious impairment if not prevented with a couple yawns.
BOTTOM LINE: Shyamaprasad's aesthetically striking Ivide is more of a slow-paced drama under the disguise of a crime-thriller that is highly boring, if not excruciating.
RATING: 3 stars out of 10.
Can be watched with a typical Indian family? YES
