Visithiran movie review: This RK Suresh-starrer crime drama is a strictly average fare

2.5/5

Story: A voluntarily retired cop, who is in his early 50s, becomes depressed after coming across the news of his former wife's death. However, he suspects something unusual in her demise, and starts collecting details on the accident which led to the fatal incident. His investigation leads to shocking revelations about an organized crime syndicate which is rampant in the society. Will he be able to hunt them down?  

Review: Visithiran is the remake of four year old Malayalam movie Joseph which won appreciation from critics and audience alike. Though many raised their eyebrows when the remake was announced with RK Suresh playing the protagonist's role essayed by Joju Joseph in the original, it was filmmaker Bala's inclusion in the project as one of its producers which gave them a little hope. 

Padmakumar, who directed the Mollywood version, brought on board to helm the remake version, too, made a few film buffs pin hopes on the latter.  

Mayan (RK Suresh), a quinquagenarian cop who voluntarily retired a few years ago, leads a somber life after the death of her daughter. He finds solace in a few friends from the department and alcohol, and becomes even more dejected when he learns that his former wife Stella (Poorna) passes away in an accident.

Call it a coincidence, a few incidents make him suspicious about her death. He starts collecting details about the accident and conducts an investigation with the help of his friends in the department. Mayan finds that a dreaded organ mafia is behind the death of Stella, and thinks of ways to nab them. But he is aware of his limitations as well. What's he going to do next? 

The biggest challenge for the remake version is to match the performance of Joju Joseph who effortlessly portrayed varied emotions as a cop, a lover, a husband, a father and a former husband. Though RK Suresh has come up with a sincere effort, which can be termed as one of his best performances, it is no match to the protagonist in the original version. 

Another challenge is to match the realistic depiction of the screenplay and making. The Tamil version falters a bit in this regard and is quite evident in many sequences. 

The background score by GV Prakash saves the film to a decent extent. The performances of seasoned actors like Ilavarasu and Marimuthu do not elevate the narration as their roles aren't written engagingly. A talented performer like Bagavathi Perumal is cast in an unusual role, and he appears really unfit. 

Poorna is neat in her role and Madhu Shalini doesn't have much to do. Unlike the Malayalam version, the climax has altered a bit to provide more details of the protagonist's master plan, but the makers end up spoon-feeding a lot, thus diluting the edge-of-the-seat moments. The production values, too, could have been better for a suspense thriller like this. Some of Vetrivel Mahendran's visuals remind us of Joseph, while Sathish Suriya's editing isn't bad.

Verdict: What made Joseph a roller-coaster ride is the right blend of natural emotions and suspense elements complemented by Joju's effortless performance as a person who goes through several tragedies in his personal life. Visithiran comes across as a lukewarm attempt for those who have relished the original version.

Visithiran is streaming on Amazon Prime Video.