U Turn

We see umpteen traffic breaks on b'lore roads everyday – but have you seen a U-Turn which went wrong big time ? Pawan Kumar (of 'Lucia' fame) narrates a gripping tale of Double-road flyover in his style. "U- turn" (with English subtitles) is about an ambitious intern journalist craving for excellence in her field. How the story unfolds….. ?? Naaaaaaaaaaaa – why should I have all the fun ? Take a break and see the story unfold on big screen :-) Cinematography and BGM – These are the make/break areas of any suspense flick, and they have been well taken care of to deliver chills to the audience. Performances – Pawan Kumar has hit bull's eye again in terms of casting. The protagonist (Shraddha Srinath) is impressive and so are the supporting characters (including Roger Narayan of Hollywood fame) who deliver convincingly. Screenplay, Editing & Direction – Kudos to the young director for venturing into this genre and delivering it yet again. The story & screenplay is well-crafted and engaging, especially, the 1st half keeps the suspense intact and audience guessing (similar to the movie's trailer). Editing is crisp and straightforward, without any unwanted footage annoying the viewers. Minuses: The 2nd half is a bit predictable and unraveling of an important twist may not go too well with a few. Verdict: A lesson well-conveyed through a mysterious tale – a suspense thriller not to be missed by the Bengalureans !!

When you talk proudly about Kannada films in the recent times you can hardly miss mentioning Pawan Kumar's "Lucia" . The immense success of this film put Pawan onto the list of acclaimed film-makers and the expectation level just got higher. This really puts him in a tight situation. After a gap of more than two years Pawan is back with his new project / film "U turn". The title is catchy for sure and the trailer does tempt you to watch as soon as it hits the screen.

Unlike Lucia, this is not a mind-bending, twisty or a clever script. Its minimalist, focused, fast paced and follows a linear narrative. As revealed in the trailer its a story about the mysterious events that occur on a flyover. How these events get connected to each of the characters in the film is interestingly woven. Its quite unusual to have a female play the lead protagonist but it seems to be a very sensible decision. In any narrative there should be some character which we should sympathise with and that kind of fits in right. The urban set-up of Bangalore that we live in blends perfectly with the plot. Even though the narrative scopes itself to Bangalore, it kind of works for any metropolitan city where time, traffic, chaos take precedence.

The film starts with some heavy conversational scene which is rather unconnected to the main plot. So even if you walk in five minutes late into the show you haven't missed anything important. "U Turn" is not those "dont miss the beginning" films. It flows freely and falls in place by the end of first thirty minutes. Once the main plot kicks in it hooks you on. The plot is so thin and sacred that you just cant think of tampering it by giving unnecessary faking shocks. In a way the film builds up and unfolds in a predictable sort which made sense to me. It could have been clever but the tone is such that it is more subtle than being complex. Having the lucid Lucia experience there are high chances that you could have expected it to go to wow you but the narrative chooses to be straight and more importantly delivers what it has to. We Indians are kind of fond of message oriented films. Ask any film-maker, he says there is a social message, its become a norm sort of. If you build a narrative such that the message is passed and not forced that probably has more impact. Those who have watched "Sairat" will relate to this. U-turn too does not force any message but does bring out the aspect of civic sense and responsibilities. I hope after watching people will remember and get reminded of their responsibilities on and off the roads. Lets not just limit ourselves to put on some FB post stating "I will not take this or that turn #uturn".

There is shift in genre from romance, thriller, mystery, horror. Its kind of risky given the mood swings however its an interesting experiment which did not disturb me much. There is no scope for songs, forced comical situations and am glad that no compromise has been done on this part owing to the commercial aspects. This is appreciable! There are scenes where in dialogues are excessive. Since most of the audience connect with dialogues more than the visual this traditional technique is still followed.

Performances were pretty decent. Shraddha fits in right for the role. A new face was seriously needed and she seems to have played it well. Many might feel that her Kannada could have been better but w.r.t the character she plays it is quite OK. Krishna Hebbale once again plays a cop. He is kind of senior. Roger Narayan gives out a new feel and seems to be a great find for the role. Dilip Raaj is a fine actor but has been underutilized. Hope he gets noticed for his work. There is one actor who keeps on coming to your mind while you watch the film but never comes on screen. Baadal!

Technically this is a well executed film. There is nothing awesome about the visuals as the shots are more natural and more like what you see in day-today life. The sound-scape especially for a city like Bangalore seems very effective.

No big producers, no big stars yet Pawan and his team manage to pull out a film that engages you for about two hours. Agreed that its of a different experience than Lucia but how many films like U-turn gets written, executed and delivered? Could it have been more better? Maybe! Could it have different way of ending? Maybe! But it would spoil the narrative. Looks like the only way it had to end has been followed. Well the fact is, Its an indigenous script and it surely deserves your time.

8/10..Thanks Pawan Kumar for bringing the much-needed road-safety message hard-hittingly and convincingly in a very innovative way from your movie 'U-Turn'. Being a Kannadiga, I am ashamed to say that when driving on roads and following traffic rules, Bengalureans behavior is most inhumane, indiscipline, inconsiderate and insensitively rash especially bikers then cabs, small trucks, buses...And this rhetoric is coming from who have experience living in top metro cities across world. Even the most populated and impoverished Mexico City drivers follow traffic rules at their best. Looking at Bengaluru mad and chaotic traffic, it is hard to defend foreigners calling India a shxtty hole. It is shocking that India renews its Guinness records for having most number of road accidents and deaths in world every year. About 15 lakhs Indians have died in last 10 years and in Bengaluru alone, I believe 10-20 people die every day, mostly bikers again. Bengaluru 'Adjust Madi' attitude on roads is wiping out people mainly youth.

About 'U-Turn' movie qualities, it is good but not up to expectations of 'RangiTaranga', 'KendaSampige' or even Pawan Kumar's own 'Lucia'.

Pros -

1. Good road-safety message delivered to society especially the much needed one for Bengalureans.

2. Innovative storytelling with good thrilling elements.

3. Technically decent - sleek direction, good screenplay, decent background score and editing.

4. I personally felt the climax is good, contrary to popular verdict, as I have experienced and heard about similar paranormal happenings in life.

Cons -

1. Movie felt predictable with mystery elements given away with unnecessary special effects before murders.

2. Protagonist actress Shraddha's Kannada pronunciation was not up to mark. Her expressions felt similar in most scenes lacking shades and micro-expressions.

3. Acting by most actors felt flat and routine even in some intense scenes e.g. post jeep and jail murders the actors expressions lacked intensity , fear and depth.

4. Over usage of Kanglish (Kannada with English) in conversations and impractical American words (viz. Homicide for Murder, Cheque for Bill) in Indian culture should have been avoided.

5. Some scenes were not convincing e.g. a beggar residing on flyover and that too watching over people whole time looks filmy.

6. Movie felt hastily shot with minimal budget with sincerity lacking in some places.

7. Inclusion of few preachy scenes on traffic safety would have been good.

Despite the flaws, 'U-Turn' should be watched by everyone for its innovative storytelling and convincing social message on road safety.

Good Kannada movies are hard to come by. This one alone can move the needle quite a bit to the high side.

I will not reveal plots. Except for some shaky scripting in the last few minutes, the movie is remarkably watchable.

So the beginning of the movie was promising and i was excited to know what happens further on. But somewhere in the middle it was clear that there will be some supernatural powers involved and the plot became predictable. Still there were some twists in the end but they didnt add much tension to the film, mabye the one at the end, which was inspired by a real incident. It was a certainly a decent movie, not perfect, the acting was really good and the camera technique also executed well. For a movie evening with friends or Family this movie is def. a good choice. Between Stuttgart is not nice ;)