O2

Lady Superstar Nayanthara redefined the Tamil movie landscape in 2018, proving with her immense performances in "Kolamavu Kokila" and "Imaikkaa Nodigal" that there is scope and marketability for female-centric commercial films. While the journey thereon have been stop-start in terms of solo hits, the actress has held her own with Direct-to-digital releases like "Mookuthi Amman (2020)" and "Netrikann (2021)", striking a chord with at-home audiences.

Her latest outing is also tailor-made for OTT, with the makers employing a largely single location narrative to make a low-budget but well intentioned story centred around the loving bond between a mother and her child. Nayanthara plays "Parvathy", a devoted mother to "Veera" (played by a splendid Rithvik), a smart child who suffers from cystic fibrosis, which restricts his ability to breathe. Constantly needing the aid of an Oxygen cylinder, the mother and child embark on a bus ride to Kochi from Coimbatore for an operation that might improve his condition.

They are joined by a pair of star-crossed lovers, a corrupt policeman, a disgraced ex-MLA and others in an ill-fated bus journey as they get trapped under the mud and sludge during a massive landslide amidst heavy rains. Trapped underneath the earth with the air running out with each passing minute, how the passengers come to grips with their predicament forms the rest of what was an interesting premise.

Debutant director GS Venkatesh clearly bites off more than he can chew, hitting almost every cinematic trope seen in survival thrillers, straight on the head, offering no unpredictability in his storytelling. Thankfully, the sparkling chemistry between a typically terrific Nayanthara and the precocious Rithvik, make even the cliched mother-son sequences engaging and watchable. The director tries to set up a motley crew of supporting characters but while some like Jaffer Idukki and Barath Neelakantan click, most of the others fail to make any impression, with RNR Manohar's character especially coming across as loud and too over-the-top.

"O2" is one of those movies that you can watch and absorb but will leave no lasting impression or offer you anything new. This is one strictly intended for hardcore Nayanthara fans. The movie is now streaming on Disney+ Hotstar and is available in its primary language of Tamil as well as in Malayalam, Telugu and Kannada dubs, alongwith English subtitles.

First 30 minutes of the movie was very good and setting the context well for what's coming up next. Rest of the movie was simply dragging and easily predictable, length of the movie could have been reduced by 30 mins to make it crisp.

Acting of Nayanthara was pretty normal and there's nothing great to mention.

Inspite of the negatives mentioned, one message which can be taken away is - How might we strive for oxygen in future, if we continue to spoil the nature the way we have been doing?

The story and screenplay of this film are abysmally written, lacking creativity and depth.

Despite their efforts, all the actors fall short of delivering a compelling performance.

Nayan's decline is evident with each film, as her skills seem to be diminishing.

The director's incompetence is glaringly obvious, resulting in a major failure.

The visual effects used in the film appear cheap and poorly executed.

Overall, this film is simply not worth your time, failing to offer any redeeming qualities or engaging moments.

I don't have any idea if this kind of survival movie is ever made in India. Or maybe, I'm just came across this for the first time. The movie is okay because it isn't entirely a new concept. Some concepts are taken from Foreign movies too. Besides,the movie is predictable. Moreover,the child breathing problem disease makes this movie bit unrealistic like seriously, putting something for making this movie more intense.

When the Oxygen (O2) level will be down, everyone will look for the ways to survive and for that they will attack, even kill one another. In this way, everyone will try to hunt this boy down for attaining his oxygen cylinder. It is more like a survive journey of a mother to save her son vs people on the bus in stead survival of a landslide.

But,the rest is okay. One might feel bored because of it's duration. But, if it is solely based on survival, it will be more thrilling and exciting. Sadly,melodramatic mother and son concept ruined it.

May be it is predictable or done with references but a different experience and a good film. Technical work of the film is also well done like cinematography, editing and sounds. More than worth for OTT release.