Naane Varuvean Review: Selvaraghavan and Dhanush's psychological thriller begins well, but loses steam in the second half

3/5

Story: A father discovers a sudden change in his daughter's behaviour. And when he realises that she has been possessed, he has to do the unthinkable to save her- kill his long-separated brother.

Review: As the opening shot pans atop a dense forest, we are introduced to a family of four comprising the twins- Prabhu and Kathir (both played by Dhanush), with the latter displaying qualities of a mentally unstable person. We expect the parents to be supportive of Kathir, but instead witness them punishing him by chaining him to a fence. With toxic and abusive parenting and a psycho killer (Selvaraghavan in a cameo) on the prowl, things quickly exacerbate for Kathir.

20 years later, we are introduced to Prabhu who is seemingly doing well in his life and has a lovely family (Indhuja as his wife Bhuvana and Hiya Davey as his daughter Sathya) to dote on. At one point, when his colleague Guna (Yogi Babu), tells him that he has a perfect life, we get an inkling that things are going to get haywire from there.

Soon, Prabhu observes some abnormal behaviour in his daughter as she begins talking to someone in the middle of the night. At first he thinks of it as an unusual behaviour, but soon gets the hint that she might be actually conversing with a supernatural being. He takes her to a psychiatrist (Prabhu, who also calls himself a spiritual healer) and also ropes in a bunch of 'ghostbusters of sorts' to chase away the spirit. Finally, when he realises that his daughter has been possessed, the spirit asks him to do the unthinkable - to kill his twin brother Kathir. The name sends a chill down his spine. The suspense and the eeriness reaches the zenith at the interval when we are given a fleeting glimpse of Kathir. So far so good.

We expect the makers to cash in on the hype, but it's here that the film falters. We meet Kathir, the cold-blooded psycho killer, who also has a family of his own - his speech-impaired wife Madhuri (Elli AvrRam) and his two sons, Manu and Sonu. He, too, adores his family, but has a sinister side that is kept under wraps. He struts around the forest in style with his bow and arrow in tow, and gives us some heavy-duty 'mass' moments that play to the gallery. But the fear factor ends there as you expect a lot more from him after the hype generated in the first half.

On the story front, what we are offered in the second half is a predictable plot that doesn't really fall in Selvaraghavan's territory, but is a tad generic. Even the much-awaited encounter between Prabhu and Kathir, doesn't really up the ante and comes across as tepid. The makers seem to have been in a hurry to rush to the climax scene which has been left open-ended.

Dhanush seems to be at ease as both the mild-mannered Prabhu and the ruthless maniac Kathir. The way he effortlessly switches himself into Kathir from Prabhu, who is portrayed as a regular guy with hardly any heroic moments, is fantastic. The entire supporting cast is brilliant in their respective characters, including Hiya Davey, who is the central character that brings the brothers together. Yuvan is back in a fantastic form and the gripping background music adds to the spookiness and gives the suspense elements a fillip. The cinematography is deliberately kept dark to complement the eeriness and tone of the film. If only Kathir's character had been etched better and the second half of the film matched up to the first, the film could have been a clear winner.

Verdict: An eerie thriller let down by a predictable second half