‘Victim’ has been released on the Sony Live OTT platform as an anthology with four different stories centered around the same theme. Each short film is 30 to 35 minutes long. This ‘Victim’ anthology which runs for almost 2 hours has been directed by directors Pa. Ranjith, M. Rajesh, Simbudevan and Venkatprabu. Let’s see how the ‘Victim’ anthology fares.
Pa. Ranjith’s ‘Dhammam’ – The story of the film is about the kind of trouble a bottom farmer gets into with a domineering farmer. Pa. Ranjith has directed Dhamma with subtle political scenes and powerful verses. What a powerful verse, Guru Somasundaram would say to his daughter Baby Dharani, who was standing on top of the Buddha statue, ‘Don’t climb on the Sami statue and kiss it’. To that, it is very heavy where the reply comes out as ‘Buddhare Sami illannu illannu’.
Ranjith has given the 2-hour events in a field in the form of a beautiful short story with minor characters like Kurusoma Sundaram, Kalaiyarasan, Hari Krishnan, Baby Dharani, Arjeen. More than anything, the way Baby Dharani’s character is written is hilarious. Here Baby Dharani is shown as representative of the next generation. There is no compromise in the anti-dominant voice that emanates from him. Explodes. He had not the slightest fear from the previous generation like his father.
He threatens in the scene saying ‘You get down’. Two generations of similar age. But, the way they are separated by their actions is impressive. The attempt to convey important politics through a short film is commendable. The film’s story alone does not add strength. Instead, its technical team has gone to work. The scene of the girl catching fish, the aerial shot, the single shot, and the flamboyant cinematography are impressive. Tenma’s music is played only where it is needed, which is a great strength.
Simbu Deva’s ‘Kottaibaku Vathalum and Terrace Mati Chitra’ – ‘Kottaipaku Vathalum, Motta Madi Siddharum’ is a fantasy film that tells the story of a sub-editor’s efforts to save his job during the Corona lockdown. Director Simbu Devan has made this film by mixing political satire in his own style. In fact, he has completed the film with only three characters namely Nasser, Thambi Ramaiah and Vignesh Kant.
The director has differentiated the film by having 4 climax scenes. The slow moving story is a bit boring. The twist at the end is so artificial that the film alienates the audience.
The occasional political satire is noteworthy. In particular, the political leader who talks about the rise in onion prices, says, ‘Don’t add onions to cooking’, ‘Central fund allocation is always the most important factor’, and ‘Multinational companies grow in prosperity’ have been boldly approached. Thambi Ramaiah’s overacting could not be avoided at some points. Nasser has acted perfectly. Viewed in film order, the film justifies its second position in the anthology.
M. Rajesh’s ‘Mirage’: A woman comes to a resort on East Coast Road in Chennai for work and gets affected by some paranormal happenings there. Why is that? Why? What happens is the story of the film. M. Rajesh, who is known for comedy, has turned to horror. Both Priya Bhavani Shankar and Natty have given excellent performances.
Nutty is especially threatening. In the beginning, the director Rajesh takes the audience into the story with some kind of fear. When you think there is something weighty about the story, he gives you a twist along with disappointment. It cannot be avoided that there is a feeling in some places that Chennai’s local case has been imposed.
In some places, he has tried to make jokes like ‘Batman’s throw away’. But the way the victims are portrayed in this episode is disturbing. If you look at it that way, the screenplay adds justification to the last place even though the film is at the third place.
Venkat Prabhu’s Confession: Amalapal, who lives alone in an apartment, is being harassed by someone who works with him. Due to that, some problems persist. How he recovered from that is the story of the film. Directed by Venkat Prabhu, the film stars Amalapal and Prasanna in pivotal roles. Both the performances add strength to the film.
A place where the issues are presented one by one is noticeable. On the other hand, conveying only lines without emphasizing the point of view prevents it from being able to blend with the story. Even after the film ends, a sense of incompleteness lingers.
3 out of 4 stories are clearly created for a single narrative twist. With the intention of surprising the audience, we might as well have brought surprise into the story!