Sethu (Hirudu Haroon) is locked in the cell of Durai (Babi Simha), an undertrial prisoner in Nagercoil Jail. Marudu (Muneeskanth), a retail thief who arrives in the same cell and some other inmates cooperate with Sethu’s proposed plan to escape. Did they escape or not? The story is about the criminal background that led them to jail.
The 2018 Malayalam film ‘Swathantharyam Artharathiri’ (Freedom at Midnight) was inspired by the 1994 Hollywood film ‘Shashank Redemption’. In it, director Brinda has made some changes and remade it for Tamil.
The film parallels the background of why the main characters came to the prison and the secret work they do to escape. Even though there are songs, they are not stumbling blocks and the exciting screenplay travels without stopping at any place.
Sethu’s character is powerfully written as the prison warden, winning the respect of the guards, instigating Durai’s quest for freedom and drawing him into the escape plan, being the main character and executing the plan. But behind Sethu’s urge to escape from prison, Vidal’s love is the slippage.
It is also disappointing that the heroine, who is shown as a speechless woman, is portrayed as a mere ‘love object’.
Joseph Nellikkel has created an unknown ‘set’ to accept what the district jail, where most of the story takes place, would look like. Priyesh Guruswamy’s cinematography shows the look of the prison road, the rooms, doors, kitchen, and the trail of light created by day and night without leaving the thriller character.
Another feature that compensates for the pace of the screenplay is Praveen Anthony’s cinematography. As much as he can ‘chop’ the climactic scene, he does his job brilliantly. Sam C.S.’s songs and background score are strong in intertwining with the plot.
Hriduharoon who plays Sethu is amazing in both acting, dancing and action scenes. He doesn’t have as much emotion as there is intimacy in love scenes. Actress Anaswara Rajan passes away with nothing to act despite her looks. Bobby Simha has completed the task given to him. Muneeskanth has the additional task of doing comedy with action. He has scored.
If they had focused more on the prison escape action plot and chosen the characters’ issues more carefully, it would have gone beyond being a flat thriller experience and emotionally engaging.