forensic tamil movie review

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Samuel uses his forensic skills and discovers breakthroughs in a serial killing case as further victims are added to the list. Shikha teams up with Samuel and uncovers evidence that might le... Read all Samuel uses his forensic skills and discovers breakthroughs in a serial killing case as further victims are added to the list. Shikha teams up with Samuel and uncovers evidence that might lead to the killer's identity. Samuel uses his forensic skills and discovers breakthroughs in a serial killing case as further victims are added to the list. Shikha teams up with Samuel and uncovers evidence that might lead to the killer's identity.

• Ravi Rajput
• Tovino Thomas
• Mamta Mohandas
• Saiju Kurup
• 112 User reviews
• 6 Critic reviews
• 2 nominations

• Samuel John Kattookkara

• Rithika Xavier

• Xavier John Kattookkaran

• Shikha Damodar

• Abdul Wahab

• S.I Murali Mohankumar

• Dr. Jayakumar Menon

• Dano Mammen

• Alphonse Kurian
• Alphonse Kurian's Childhood

• Malavika's mother
• Divya Divakar

• Rajeev Madhavan
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• Connections Remade as Forensic (2022)
• Soundtracks Jaane Do

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• Runtime 2 hours 14 minutes

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Forensic movie review: Fresh take on 'science' of a crime thriller

Usually, in crime thrillers that glorify intelligence and agile moves of the investigating teams, the role of the forensic department is limited to just the finger print expertise. However, 'Forensic', the suspense thriller, starring Tovino Thomas in the lead, explores various nuances of the forensic sciences and depicts how they help in solving a murder mystery.

If the super hit Tamil movie 'Ratsasan' portrays a series of murders of young school going girls, Forensic, depicts children aged between 5 and 6 who fall prey to a serial killer. If it was a criminal psychologist who helped a woman investigating officer in 'Anjam Paathira', the first super hit of 2020, in this movie, a forensic expert comes to the police’s aid. The movie brilliantly portrays their findings and revelations with intriguing twists.

Forensic begins with a few flashback scenes which project how the mindset of a serial killer is formed. The scenes then shift to a city which is plagued by a series of gruesome murders. The story picks up pace when the characters of Rithika, Samuel and the villain make the entry. The first half ends when the identity of the villain, who possesses a unique personality and look, is revealed.

The second half throws a handful of riddles for the audience to think and solve. You may lose the connection between sequences if the film is not watched with full concentration. From a single villain in the first half, the movie unravels a lot of people who are connected to the crimes. Though 'Forensic' has the clichéd twist that is common to all crime thrillers, it doesn’t challenge the rationality or credibility of the plot.

Tovino delivers a power-packed performance as forensic expert Samuel Kattorkaran. Mamta Mohandas shines as Rithika while Reba Monica delivers worthwhile performance as Shikha. Ranji Panicker, Saiju Kurup and Sreekant Murali too essay their respective roles with elan.

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The director duo of Akhil Paul–Anas Khan, who also wrote the screenplay, could definitely take pride in their debut movie. However, it is their screenplay that deserves extra points.

'Forensic' does not conform to the usual formala of a crime thriller. The movie makes the audience realise that complex yet reliable scientific evidences are vital in solving a crime. 'Forensic' would be an interesting watch for those who are interested in the genre of suspense thriller.

• Mamtha Mohandas
• Malayalam Cinema
• Tovino Thomas

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‘Forensic’: A fleet thriller with a head-scratching twist

Vishal furia directs radhika apte and vikrant massey..

Forensic is both a loose remake of the Malayalam movie of the same name and a review of it. Director Vishal Furia’s Hindi version improves on the original film’s best elements – a gruesome crime, shocking plot turns, fleet pacing – but also contains an equally preposterous twist.

Young girls are going missing on their birthdays in Mussoorie, only to turn up as mutilated corpses. Police officer Megha (Radhika Apte) reluctantly accepts the services of Johnny (Vikrant Massey), a forensic specialist and her ex-boyfriend, in investigating the crime.

Megha and Johnny are linked in another way too: their older siblings used to be married until they were separated by a tragedy. Johnny’s brother Abhay (Rohit Bose Roy) has been unable to meet his daughter Aanaya (Harbandana Kaur) as a result.

Like its source material, the ZEE5 release proposes that you suspend disbelief and go along with the flow of events. Megha’s troubles increase when the corpses continue to pile up even after the arrest of the supposed kidnapper. Johnny’s forensic sleuthing and a few convenient developments nudge him and Megha towards the culprit.

Vikrant Massey has fun playing Johnny as a debonair and irreverent investigator. He’s certainly more relaxed than poor Radhika Apte, playing the overwrought working woman yet again.

The cast includes Prachi Desai as a psychiatrist and Vindu Dara Singh as Megha’s loyal deputy. The ending suggests a franchise in the making. Hopefully the plot of the next film will be more convincing?

• Forensic review
• Radhika Apte
• Vikrant Massey

'Forensic' film review: Need no magnifying glass to spot its slips

The devil lies in the details. Storytelling does too. Finding the culprit in a whodunnit is like peeling an onion. If not watery, eyes must gape wide with revelation. It is a magic trick. The viewer is engrossed with walking a cold trail overlooking the shorter route in front. That’s where 'Forensic'’s problem begins. While trying to overtake the audience at every turn, it doesn’t realise its tumbling downhill.

Welcome to misty Mussoorie, where finding a little girl’s body is just another downpour away. Here’s Johnny Khanna (played over-enthusiastically by Vikrant Massey), a forensic expert who likes to moonwalk into a crime scene and sing nursery rhymes (Johnny, Johnny...) to both corpses and the living alike till they die of cringe. “But he’s the best,” says a cop as a prelude to the character’s introduction.

Johnny is a wannabe Karamchand who might be better off as Inspector Jacques Clouseau from The Pink Panther. He is reporting to Radhika’s Megha Sharma, the case officer with whom he has a past. The case? Young girls are getting murdered on their birthdays in small-town Mussoorie. The past? They separated. Johnny and Megha also share a niece (his brother married her sister) and I did feel like drawing a family tree.

There is another thing of catching the flavour of the place where the crime occurs. In Bong Joon-Ho’s 'Memories of Murder' (2003), South Korea comes alive in its rice paddy fields. “This place is like somebody’s memory of a town, and the memory is fading,” ruminates Rust Cohle in HBO’s 'True Detective' (2014). Even the Malayalam original 'Forensic' (2020), starring Tovino Thomas and Mamta Mohandas, feels at home in its green landscape. The Hindi version, however, is ‘miss-placed’. It wants to ride the bandwagon of a scenic mountain thriller but that’s about it. What do we know about Mussoorie? “This is a small town,” says a police officer during an office banter. “Even if you buy an underwear here, the neighbour will get to know its colour.” That’s true for all small towns, hope not.

In the beginning, Forensic poses a lot of doors to open, but it merely knocks on them and nothing rings a bell. In a scene, Johnny deduces that the killer is not over four to five feet in height. Regular viewers of crime thrillers are always expecting the worst from humanity. The obvious conclusion is that the murderer is a child. “Can it be a dwarf?” asks a cop and I expected flabbergasted looks. What I got was CCTV footage showing a dwarf sweeper near the crime scene and a wild goose chase in a colony of dwarfs. All this for petty comic relief.

Relationships between characters are unravelled conveniently through flashbacks. The Malayalam original aces here. Its characters are defined through traits and flashbacks are sparse. The Hindi version takes the pulp and leaves the juice behind. In a particular sequence in the original, an eye-witness, while he was clandestinely removing a flag of ‘comrades’, spots the accused. A bit of detailing like this and the scene elevates with political context. In the Hindi 'Forensic', the eye-witness is a ragpicker.

Towards the end, 'Forensic' starts remembering clichés it missed. Johnny and Megha get suspended. The evidence board is set, the coloured threads are out, and the victim polaroids are pinned. A post-it note even reads “Who is the killer?” By the time the climax comes I thought, does it even matter?

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Forensic Review: A Middling Thriller That Uses Conventional Horror Tropes

Cast: Tovino Thomas, Mamta Mohandas, Reba Monica

Director: Akhil Paul, Anas Khan

*Spoiler Alert*

The tail end of Forensic, directed by Akhil Paul and Anas Khan, has a long-winded sequence which shows how the serial killer at the centre of the film executed his crimes. There is gore and distress-inducing music. And there are images of terrified faces of the victims﹣little girls picked up from various parts of the city ﹣and close-ups shots of the monstrous murderer grinning, staring right into the camera.

Unlike Indian crime-dramas like Raman Raghav 2.0 ( Anurag Kashyap , 2016), unapologetically sadistic and dark, which used deeply disturbing images of violence to express a sense of hopelessness that pervades Indian cities and its inhabitants, Forensic ’s approach to the material in hand is utterly exploitative, devoid of any deeper significance. Violence is used only to unsettle the viewers and stop them from diving into critical thinking. 

The narrative proceeds as a cat-and-mouse chase between a police team led by Ritika Xavier ( Mamta Mohandas ), an IPS officer, and a serial killer who has brought Thiruvananthapuram city under the grip of fear. On the surface, there is no motive for the crimes. Other than the modus operandi, there seems to be no pattern that connects the victims. With the help of a young and abled forensic scientist, Sam ( Tovino Thomas ), the cops find clues that take them to the skeletons of a long-buried case.

The unconventional profession of the protagonist ﹣Sam is a medico-legal advisor to the police ﹣lends the film an opportunity to throw some interesting and cool trivia about the world of DNA analysis and forensic sciences. Sam is introduced through a scene that highlights his wit. In a matter of a few minutes, he breaks a seemingly solid alibi of a man accused of domestic violence and murder. 

But it also poses to the film’s makers a serious challenge, to turn lab activities cinematic. In order to familiarise the audience with the terms and functions of the forensic sciences department, the film brings in a sub-character, an intern who, despite her confidence and educational qualifications, has to patiently listen to Sam explaining the fundamentals of his job every time they are in the laboratory. 

The film’s overt dependence on dialogues isn’t just limited to the aforesaid situation. In the climactic part of the film, the chief antagonist explains to Sam and the audience why and how he did what he did. There is no intrigue, or rise and fall of tension. Just a bland monologue and an uninspiring showdown. 

After the first set of clues emerge, Forensic takes the shape of a horror-thriller where instead of supernatural elements you have unusual malefactors ﹣children. The camera captures the juvenile criminals like possessed. One of them, Ruben, has always lived under the watchful eyes of the government, in juvenile homes and mental institutions, but has long unruly hair like a feral child. There are many typical instances of jumpscares and tracking shots where the camera follows a character, imitating the demon’s point of view, only to reveal something mundane and harmless. 

This is perhaps the first Malayalam mainstream film to talk about the violent, antisocial behaviour in kids. It is startling to think that they are capable of committing heinous crimes. But it is even more unnerving to think that they could become puppets in the hands of dangerous adults. The film does a good job of creating intrigue and a sense of eeriness in the film’s second act, with ample help from two excellent child actors who outperform their adult co-actors. 

Notwithstanding these novel ideas, the film doesn’t really rise to the realm of extraordinary because it uses archaic narrative devices. Right from the staging of the scenes of child abduction to the tinkling music used in scenes involving children and the dark dungeon from where the antagonist operates, everything reeks of cinematic cliches.

The film’s prologue, a flashback sequence that showcases the harrowing childhood and early teenage of an unnamed character, is an overfamiliar one in mainstream cinema. The several shots of the antagonists, children and adults, breaking the fourth wall and staring at the audience, flaunting their devilishness, is a lazy shorthand that says, “Look how evil we are!” Sure, it induces the intended creepiness. But eventually, the film drowns in its own unimaginativeness. 

The hierarchy and power dynamics within the police force is hurriedly illustrated. Every time  the hero makes a good point, his superior officer dismisses it out of hand and berates him for overstepping boundaries. This repeats with ritualistic fervour.

Sam’s initial scenes with Shikha (Reba Monica) are designed like the meet-cute instances in a regular romantic-comedy. She is haughty, yet adorable. He is young and desirable. Although the film refrains from developing their relationship into an awkward workplace romance, it doesn’t make an effort to flesh out its female characters. 

The film invests an undue amount of attention on Sam, thereby limiting the scope of other characters, including Ritika who is the most affected party in the whole scheme of things. In actuality, a medico-legal officer’s scope of work might have boundaries, but Sam is an all-rounder who untangles the web of crime before anyone else in the police team does and physically takes down villains like a pro. Ritika, at the same time, is relegated to a poorly-written secondary role, of a jealous colleague and a short-sighted sleuth. 

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Tovino Thomas plays Sam with a lot of likeability. But one can’t help notice the out-of-place enthusiasm in his body language and voice when he is explaining his process or introducing a new device in his laboratory, like a model selling a product on television. Mamta Mohandas sleepwalks through a role that has come to be her comfort zone, where her natural sophistication and elan comes handy. 

Forensic is spiritually similar to middling works such as Anjaam Pathira which places familiar cinematic gimmicks above great writing that takes the audience by surprise and smart filmmaking. And moreover, a striking sense of misanthropy overshadows the pursuit of justice at the core of these films. 

The  Forensic review  is a  Silverscreen  original article.  It was not paid for or commissioned by anyone associated with the film. Silverscreen.in and its writers do not have any commercial relationship with movies that are reviewed on the site.

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Forensic movie review: Tovino Thomas-Mamtha Mohandas starrer is clever till it gets too clever by half

Until the last half hour or so when the killer is unveiled and motivations revealed, Forensic’s deductions are impressive enough and related in an easy enough fashion to make the film an entertaining ride.

Language: Malayalam

Rithika Xavier (Mamtha Mohandas) is heading a police team investigating a child’s murder in Thiruvananthapuram when she realises she has a serial killer on her hands. Samuel John Kattukkaran (Tovino Thomas), the forensic scientist assigned to her, is a genius with a reputation for overreach. He has an old personal connection with Rithika.

From the moment Sam enters the picture, from the treatment and presentation of the character in his very first minutes on screen, we know it is he who will crack the case. Scenes are set up with the obvious intent of giving him an opportunity to prove his smartness. At first he patronises his junior colleague and throughout outshines the senior to whom he reports - both of them women, marking the token female presence so common in Malayalam cop sagas while men go about actually solving the crime/s at hand.

Perhaps the only thing left was for Sam to wear a headband saying: “designated hero of the film.” Subtlety, you see, is not the forte of this crime thriller directed by Akhil Paul and Anas Khan. If you are willing to forgive Forensic its many venial sins on this front - since they are silly but never offensive in the way a c ertain kind of loud, misogynistic, male-star-driven Mollywood cinema is - you might enjoy this harmless crime drama up to a point, as I did.

Until the last half hour or so when the killer is unveiled and motivations revealed, Forensic’s deductions are impressive enough and related in an easy enough fashion to make the film an entertaining ride. Sure, the background score should have been played down. Sure, several scenes are awkwardly constructed to pointlessly over-emphasise a point, but well, no one is saying Forensic is high art. Sure, an arrest made by Rithika in an old case recounted in the present was senseless, but that can be put down to standard police inefficiency, even if it seems inconsistent with the portrayal of Rithika. Sure, little thought has gone into two scenes of arrests when the police bring their suspects out in public with faces uncovered knowing that crowds are present outside. Sure, it is hard to believe that so many little girls were lured away by a charmless criminal. Sure all the above are true, but until that last half hour, Sam’s work sustains the film.

I am not certain any Indian state police department has the facilities that Sam and his associate Shikha (Reba Monica John) have at their disposal - maybe they do, maybe they don’t, I am just wondering based on news reports and conversations with actual personnel that reveal how cripplingly ill-equipped police forces are in India. However, drawing on those very discussions, it does seem possible that a single Indian investigator might indeed have to be a Jack of all specialities within forensics, as Sam is shown to be in this film, due to a lack of available trained humanpower (far removed from the ultra-super-superspecialties I have been discovering through the addictive American real-life-crime series Forensic Files I have lately been binge-watching on Netflix). Either way, Sam is smart enough and his logic roughly convincing enough to a layperson for his investigation process to be engaging.

Then the perpetrator is revealed, the identity is indeed unexpected, but Forensic sinks itself in the person’s convoluted, complicated, uninspiring back story. What made the recent release Anjaam Pathiraa so unforgettable was the heartbreaking crime that motivated its serial killer’s spree, the plausibility of the murder plan, the performances of the charismatic actors in that tragic back story and those bringing it to its present-day conclusion, plus the film’s insight into Kerala politics and society. In contrast, the reasons for the commission of the horrible crimes in Forensic are drowning in contrivances. Layer upon layer seems to have been added with the sole purpose of throwing in more surprises, except that they are not particularly meaningful or interesting. And since the audience has not been given an opportunity to be emotionally invested in the killer - either to be sympathetic or repulsed - it all adds up to a damp squib.

The finale of this film is suicidal, trying too hard to be clever and ending up being too clever by half.

This was really unnecessary, because Forensic is passable entertainment till then and some of the earlier unfolding twists are not half bad. It also has Thomas and Mohandas’ likeable personalities going for it and the actors’ comfort with their characters’ professions, Renji Panicker in a nice turn as a retired police official, an occasional sense of humour in the screenplay, the fact that it does not take the male protagonist down a conventional path of romance in the way most commercial Malayalam films do, and the other fact that he is not obnoxiously macho as so many leading men are in formulaic Mollywood police sagas.

But what is a crime thriller if its central criminal is dull? The answer to that question is a summation of what Forensic has to offer.

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Forensic Movie Review: Tovino Thomas Stars In A Cerebral Police Procedural That Fails To Move

Director: Akhil Paul-Anas Khan

Cast:   Tovino Thomas, Mamta Mohandas, Reba Monica John

Forensic , a close cousin of Anjaam Pathiraa , bills itself a scientific thriller. Sam ( Tovino Thomas ) is a forensic investigator working with cop Rithika ( Mamta Mohandas ) to solve a series of bizarre murders in Thiruvananthapuram. In an action thriller, you can see a protagonist move towards an external goal. In a psychological thriller like Anjaam Pathiraa , the ideas of Kunchacko Boban's Anwar about criminal behavior are visually depicted through the serial murders. In Forensic , it is much harder to see Sam pursue the killer because the more interesting 'action' often happens in his head. His solutions are scientific. They need to be explained to us before we are impressed. This reduces a lot of the film's excitement to a few punchlines.

The focus on forensics has minor payoffs, though. Sam uses his knowledge of the human body to cleverly administer a lie detector test to a heart patient. He infers the killer's height using just logic and some measurements from the crime scene. He finds the killer by applying his knowledge of DNA chimerism. He even teaches an intern to rub off marker ink using coffee (it works due to acid-base interaction, he explains). Tovino Thomas plays Sam as an everyday, regular guy. Without some affectation of manner, though, it is difficult to see the character having great ideas. We just have his own word that they're great.

The film often surprises by preferring a forensic test over a police investigation. Instead of interrogating a hundred people at a crime scene, Sam decides to test their DNA for a match. The intricate process of collecting and testing, though, is not depicted in a way that entertains. This is where the film often falters. There is drama in trying to guess the culprit during a routine police investigation. There's little drama in looking at Sam's team routinely collect used paper cups of suspects to run forensic tests, the results of which are simply read out to us. The results are interesting, but how can you sustain tension when your big ideas are verbal, packed away in bits of dialogue?

The film brings up the idea of child serial killers and presents some real-life examples. Why deal with such a serious idea superficially? Yes, the possibility does make the murders more intriguing. Often, aided by Jakes Bejoy's chilling soundtrack, the possibility creates a deeply sinister mood. But, the writer-directors (Akhil Paul and Anas Khan) seem confused as to where to go with it. Probably not wanting to take it too far, they abruptly drop it in a way that makes it feel like a gimmick.

Most of the twists in the film are just surprises. A genuine twist is when the viewer is presented with all the facts and nudged to interpret them one way, before being pointed in the other direction. This must be organic, and not feel like something tacked on for shock value. In Forensic, twists are just pieces of information that are deliberately hidden, to be revealed later for a minor aha! moment. It plays a simple game of peekaboo with the viewer, tries too hard to compensate for the lack of sustained excitement, and, often, fails.

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Forensic Movie Review: This Tovino Thomas Starring Crime Thriller Is Different Yet Appealing!

Forensic is the crime thriller that features Tovino Thomas in the lead role. The movie is written and directed by the newcomer duo Akhil Paul and Anas Khan. Mamta Mohandas has appeared as the female lead in Forensic , which is touted to be the first-ever Malayalam film to revolve around the forensic department of Kerala Government.

Did the Tovino starrer succeed in impressing the cine-goers? Read Forensic movie review here to know...

Dr. Samuel John Kattookkaran (Tovino Thomas) is a medico-legal adviser who works for the forensic science lab of the Kerala Government. He is assigned to assist the chief investigating officer Rithika Xavier IPS (Mamta Mohandas) in the investigation of the serial murders of young girls in the city. Despite being not comfortable with working together, Samuel and Rithika try their level best to track down the killer. What happens next forms the crux of the story.

Script & Direction

Newcomer duo Akhil Paul and Anas Khan make a decent directorial debut with Forensic , which can be easily stated as a different yet appealing crime thriller. The directors, who have also scripted the film, have succeeded in effectively portraying the lives of forensic officers and their role in an investigation.

The movie begins on a promising note steadily progresses towards the amazing interval punch thus presenting a thoroughly enjoyable and engaging first half. However, things are different when it comes to the second half, where Forensic loses its grip at certain points. There are a few cliche scenes and dialogues, which were totally unnecessary.

Most of the characters, except Tovin Thomas's Dr. Samuel John are underwritten, which is a letdown. However, the movie effectively portrays a valid social issue without getting preachy, which is commendable.

Performances

Tovino Thomas has done a decent job in the role of Dr. Samuel John Kattookkaran, the forensic officer. The actor carries almost the entire film in his shoulders, even though the character is a cakewalk for him.

Mamta Mohandas has done justice to her character Rithika Xavier IPS but has nothing much to do in her underwritten character after a certain point. The rest of the star cast, including Reba Monica John, Renji Panicker, Saiju Kurup, Dr. Rony David, Prathap Pothen, Dhanesh Anand, and all the child artists have done their respective parts well.

Technical Aspects

Akhil George, the DOP of the project has done a great job with the visualization, that creates the perfect ambiance for an investigation thriller. The editing could have been better, as the cliche sequences totally deserve a trim.

Jakes Bejoy, the music director scores with the highly appealing background score, which elevates the total mood. Vishnu Govind and Sree Shankar, who have handled the sound design of the project, deserve special mention.

Forensic is a different yet appealing crime thriller that will keep the audiences engaged, despite having a few flaws. Watch this Tovino Thomas starrer if you love edge-of-the-seat thrillers.

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'Forensic' movie review: Tovino Thomas' film lacks subtlety and finesse

The only thing that keeps our interest even mildly alive, is the way the forensic expert works out some of the clues leading to the killer.

Updated - February 29, 2020 02:58 pm IST

Published - February 29, 2020 11:23 am IST

A still from the film 'Forensic'.

Some opening sequences provide one a pretty accurate picture of the tone and tenor of the whole movie. Forensic opens with a rather loud, in-your-face sequence that could have become a chapter titled 'Childhood of a serial killer'.

A young boy is at a chicken shop, peering intently at the flesh being cut into pieces. The setting and the background music tells you that this is no look of curiosity, but one with a touch of evil. The following scene which shows his collection of severed chicken heads, frogs and other insects kept in glass jars in his room seals it. This lack of subtlety is something which pops its head often in the narrative.

Forensic, directed by Akhil Paul and Anas Khan, follows the mysterious disappearances of young girls from a city. Police officer Rithika Xavier (Mamta Mohandas) gets entrusted with the investigation. Medico-legal advisor Samuel John Kattukaran (Tovino Thomas), with whom she shares some uncomfortable history, joins her in the pursuit.

• Direction: Akhil Paul and Anas Khan
• Starring: Tovino Thomas, Mamta Mohandas
• Storyline: Young girls mysteriously disappear from a city. A police officer and a medico-legal advisor are in pursuit of the culprit
• Run time: 134 minutes

The writers invest much of their effort in misleading us about the true identity of the serial killer, throwing at us one red herring after another. When close to the interval, the identity is provided to us on a platter, one can easily see through the game of setting up the whole thing to make the end reveal a seemingly inconsequential character. These attempts at surprising the audience get tiring after a point that one does not feel much when the final reveal happens.

Though a lack of motive is certainly a kind of mandatory requirement for serial killers, the incidents that work as a trigger for the person to go on a killing spree hardly appear convincing here. The only thing that keeps our interest even mildly alive till then is the way the forensic expert works out some of the clues leading to the killer. The downplaying of the heroic elements and the care taken in not slipping in a needless romantic track are to the credit of the writers.

Some of the violence, especially those inflicted on children, are quite disturbing. One wished the makers were a little more sensitive in such cases, for thrills and chills can be created without actually showing that much amount of gore involving minors. The same has to be said about the relentless background score, which forces one to shield the ears at more than one point.

Forensic lacks the subtlety and finesse that separates the more effective police procedurals from the also-rans.

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Forensic: Release Date, Trailer, Songs, Cast

• Release Date 24 June 2022
• Language Hindi
• Genre Crime, Thriller
• Duration 2h 8min
• Cast Radhika Apte, Vikrant Massey, Prachi Desai, Subrat Dutta, Rohit Roy, Vindu Singh Randhawa
• Director Vishal Furia
• Writer Adhir Bhat, Ajit Jagtap, Vishal Kapoor
• Cinematography Anshul Chobey
• Music Adrija Gupta
• Producer Mansi Bagla, Varun Bagla, Deepak Mukut
• Certificate 16+

About Forensic Movie (2022)

Little girls begin to disappear, and their bodies are found in the small hill town of Mussoorie.

A female police officer (Radhika Apte) and a forensic expert (Vikrant Massey) get along on the trail of the serial killer.

Will the duo be able the find the criminal who is conducting these heinous crimes?

Forensic Movie Cast, Release Date, Trailer, Songs and Ratings

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Kalki 2898 AD Review: வில்லன் கமல், மிரட்டல் அமிதாப், மகாபாரத ரெஃபரன்ஸ் - பிரமாண்டம் மிரட்டுகிறதா?

மகாபாரத புராணக் கதைகளுடன், ரோபோக்கள், ஏ.ஐ போன்ற தொழில்நுட்ப வளர்ச்சிகளையும் இணைத்து எதிர்காலத்தில் நடக்கும் ஒரு கற்பனை கதையைச் சொல்லியிருக்கிறார் இயக்குநர் நாக் அஷ்வின்.

கி.பி 2898-ம் ஆண்டு பல பேரழிவுகளுக்குப் பின் எஞ்சி நிற்கும் உலகின் கடைசி நகரமாக இருக்கிறது காசி. 'காம்ப்ளக்ஸ்' என்ற பெயரில், மிஞ்சியிருக்கும் இயற்கையைச் சுரண்டி, சர்வ வசதிகளும் கொண்ட தனி வாழ்விடத்தை அந்நகரில் உருவாக்கி, மக்களை அவ்வாழ்விடத்திற்கு வெளியே வறுமையில் வைத்திருக்கிறார் சுப்ரீம் யாஸ்கின் (கமல் ஹாசன்). சுப்ரீமிற்கும் காம்ப்ளக்ஸிக்கும் எதிராகப் புரட்சி செய்யப் போராடிக்கொண்டிருக்கிறார்கள் ஷம்பாலா என்ற ரகசிய நகரத்தைச் சேர்ந்த மக்கள். அந்த உலகத்தின் கரண்சியான 'யூனிட்ஸ்'-ஐ தேடும் சேட்டைக்கார வீரனான பைரவா (பிரபாஸ்), எப்படியாவது காம்ப்ளக்ஸிற்குள் சென்று செட்டிலாக வேண்டும் என்று முயல்கிறான்.

மறுபுறம், கர்ப்பிணியாக உள்ள SUM 80-ஐ (தீபிகா படுகோன்) குறி வைக்கிறார்கள் சுப்ரீமின் ஆட்கள். அதனால், அப்பெண்களைப் பிடித்து சுப்ரீமின் ஆட்களிடம் கொடுக்க பைரவாவும் களமிறங்குகிறான். மறுபுறம், குருச்சேத்திரப் போர் நடந்த காலத்திலிருந்து உயிரோடிருக்கும் அஸ்வத்தாமனும் (அமிதாப் பச்சன்), ஷம்பாலா நகரத் தலைவியும் (ஷோபனா) அப்பெண்ணைக் காப்பாற்றப் போராடுகிறார்கள். அப்பெண்ணுக்கும் இவர்களுக்கும் என்ன தொடர்பு, இறுதியில் அப்பெண்ணுக்கு என்ன ஆனது, உண்மையில் பைரவா யார் போன்ற கேள்விகளுக்கான பதிலைச் சொல்லியிருக்கிறது இயக்குநர் நாக் அஷ்வினின் 'கல்கி 2898 ஏடி'.

தனது வழக்கமான கெத்தான மேனரிஸத்தோடு சண்டைக்காட்சிகள், பறக்கும் ஆக்‌ஷன் காட்சிகள், சின்ன சின்ன சேட்டைகள் என ஸ்கோர் செய்திருக்கிறார் பிரபாஸ். ஆனால், தன் நடிப்பால் பெரிய தாக்கத்தை ஏற்படுத்தாமல், ஒரு எக்ஸ்டெண்டட் கேமியோவாகவே தேறுகிறார். கதாநாயகனுக்கு இணையாக ஆக்‌ஷன் காட்சிகளில் மிரட்டினாலும், தன் முதிர்ச்சியான நடிப்பால் அத்திப்பூத்தாற்போல படத்தில் வரும் உணர்வுபூர்வமான தருணங்களை வீரியமாக்க முயன்றிருக்கிறார் அமிதாப் பச்சன். தீபிகா படுகோனுக்குப் பெரிய வேலை இல்லை, நடிப்பிலும் குறையில்லை. ஒரு சில காட்சிகளே வந்தாலும் தன் குரலாலேயே அதிர்வைக் கடத்தியிருக்கிறார் கமல்ஹாசன்.

சஸ்வதா சாட்டர்ஜி, ஷோபனா, பசுபதி, அன்னா பென் ஆகியோர் தேவையான பங்களிப்பைச் செய்திருக்கிறார்கள். மிருணாள் தாக்கூர், திஷா பதானி, பிரம்மானந்தா ஆகியோர் அழுத்தம் தராமல் வந்து போகிறார்கள். இவர்கள் தவிர. துல்கர் சல்மான், விஜய் தேவரகொண்டா, இயக்குநர்களான ராஜமொலி, ராம் கோபால் வர்மா, அனுதீப் என ஒரு பெரிய பட்டாளமே கௌரவ தோற்றத்தில் தலைகாட்டியிருக்கிறது. ஆனால் யாரும் எந்தத் தாக்கத்தையும் உண்டாக்கவில்லை.

கற்பனை உலகம், அதற்குள் நடக்கும் அதிரடியான ஆக்‌ஷன்/சேஸிங் காட்சிகள், பிரமாண்ட ஷாட்கள் என ஒரு பிரத்யேக உலகத்தை ஒரு திரையனுபவமாக மாற்றும் பெரும் பணியில் பாதி வெற்றியைப் பதிக்கிறார் ஒளிப்பதிவாளர் ஜோர்ட்ஜே ஸ்டோஜில்கோவிச். முக்கியமாக, டெம்ப்ளட்டான சில சண்டைக்காட்சிகளைச் சுவாரஸ்யமாக்கியிருக்கிறார். நீளமான சண்டைக்காட்சிகள், பிரபாஸுக்கான நீளமான இன்ட்ரோ என நீளும் 'நீளமா....ன' முதற்பாதியைத் தேவைக்கேற்ப செதுக்கத் தவறியிருக்கிறது கோட்டகிரி வெங்கடேசுவர ராவின் படத்தொகுப்பு.

சந்தோஷ் நாராயணனின் பின்னணி இசை பிரமாண்ட காட்சிகளுக்கு உதவியிருப்பதோடு, சண்டைக்காட்சிகளுக்கான பின்னணியில் புதுமையான முயற்சிகளைச் செய்து ரகளை செய்கிறது. அனில் ஜாதவ், சந்தோஷ் ஷெட்டி, வேலு, ரெம்பன் ஆகியோரின் கலை இயக்கத்தின் பெரும் உழைப்பை ஒவ்வொரு பிரேமிலும் உணர முடிகிறது. பிரவீன் கிலாறுவின் வி.எஃப்.எக்ஸ் காட்சிகளின் நுணுக்கம் படத்திற்குப் பலம் சேர்த்திருக்கிறது. பிளாஷ்பேக் அமிதாப் பச்சன் கதாபாத்திரத்திற்குப் பயன்படுத்தப்பட்ட ஏ.ஐ தொழில்நுட்பம் கவனம் பெறுகிறது.

குருசேத்திரப் போர், பாண்டவர்களின் குலத்தையே அழிக்கத் துடிக்கும் அஸ்வத்தாமன், கிருஷ்ணரின் கட்டளை போன்ற மகாபாரத பின்கதைகளோடு தொடங்கி, காசி நகரம், அந்நகரைச் சுற்றியுள்ள வறட்சி, காம்ப்ளக்ஸ், அடிமை மக்கள் எனச் சுவாரஸ்யமாகவே தொடங்குகிறது படம். அதற்கடுத்து புதிய புதிய கதாபாத்திரங்கள், 'வாமா மின்னல்' என மறையும் கெஸ்ட் ரோல் நடிகர்கள், பிரபாஸின் நீண்ட இன்ட்ரோ, அடுத்தடுத்து வரும் சண்டைக்காட்சிகள், காதல் காட்சிகள், காமெடி காட்சிகள் எனச் சுவாரஸ்யமற்று நீண்டுகொண்டே போகும் முதற்பாதி, கதை எனும் வஸ்துவைக் கண்டடையாமல் கண்மூடித்தனமாக ஓடிக்கொண்டிருக்கிறது. ஒருவேளை கதையைக் கண்டுபிடிப்பதுதான் கதையோ என எண்ண வைக்கிறது படம்.

காம்ப்ளக்ஸுக்குள் உள்ள தனியுலகம், கமல்ஹாசனின் அறிமுகம், கீர்த்தி சுரேஷின் குரலில் வரும் புஜ்ஜி என்கிற அதிநவீன ஏ.ஐ கார் போன்ற சில ரசிக்க வைக்கும் ஐடியாக்களும் இருக்கின்றன. ஆனால், அந்த ஏரியாவில் டேரா போடாமல் ஒரு சண்டைக்காட்சி, ஒரு கெஸ்ட் ரோல் காட்சி என வண்டியை ஓட்டியிருக்கிறது திரைக்கதை. அமிதாப் பச்சனின் அஸ்வத்தாமன் கதாபாத்திரம் மட்டுமே கதையை நோக்கி திரைக்கதையை நகர்த்துகிறது.

ஒருவழியாகக் கதையை அடையும் இரண்டாம் பாதிதான் படத்தையே காப்பாற்றுகிறது. விறுவிறுப்பாக நகரும் சேசிங் காட்சிகள் பார்வையாளர்களை நிமிர்ந்து உட்கார வைக்கின்றன. இயக்குநர் ராஜமௌலியின் கௌரவத் தோற்றம் கலகலப்பைத் தருகிறது. ஆனாலும், தேவையே இல்லாமல் திணிக்கப்படும் மாஸ் வசனங்களும் சண்டைக்காட்சிகளும் சோதனையிலும் சோதனைகளே! அதில் தேவையான நேர்த்தியும் இல்லை என்பது மைனஸ்.

இந்த இடர்பாடுகளுக்கு இடையே எமோஷனலான காட்சிகளும் எவ்வித தாக்கத்தையும் தராமல் ஓடிவிடுகின்றன. காண்டீபம் என்கிற தபசு, பாண்டவர்களின் வாரிசு, கர்ணன் பயன்படுத்திய ஆயுதம், அஸ்வத்தாமனுக்குக் கொடுக்கப்பட்ட பணி என மகாபாரத புராணக்கதையின் கதாபாத்திரங்களும் நிகழ்வுகளும் படத்துக்கு வலுசேர்த்திருக்கின்றன. அவை ஆழமாகவும் கையாளப்பட்டுள்ளன. ஆனால், எதிர்கால உலகில் நடக்கும் சம்பவங்கள் அழுத்தமாக எழுதப்படாதது பின்னடைவையே தந்திருக்கிறது.

ரோபோ, ஏ.ஐ, மாயாஜாலம், புராணம், அறிவியல் என எந்த வரைமுறையும் இல்லாமல் சுவாரஸ்யத்திற்காகக் காட்சிகளை மூட்டை மூட்டையாகச் சேர்த்தது திரையெழுத்தின் போதாமையையே காட்டுகிறது. 'டியூன்', 'ஸ்டார் வார்ஸ்', ஹாரிபாட்டரின் வால்டர்மோர்ட் கதை, 'மேட் மேக்ஸ்' படங்கள், பிளாக்பேந்தரின் வக்காண்டா உலகம் என நேரடியாகவே ஏகப்பட்ட ஹாலிவுட் படங்களின் தாக்கம் அப்பட்டமாகத் தெரிகிறது. மேலும், திரையில் கட்டமைக்கப்பட்ட உலகத்திற்குள்ளேயே ஆயிரம் லாஜிக் ஓட்டைகள் பூத்துக்குலுங்குகின்றன. உதாரணமாக, அஸ்வத்தாமன் பாத்திரத்தின் சக்தி என்ன, அவரால் என்ன முடியும், என்ன முடியாது என்பதற்கெல்லாம் எங்குமே பதில் இல்லை.

இந்து மத இதிகாச புராணக் கதைக்கு அறிவியல், மாயாஜாலம், கற்பனை, மாஸ் ஆக்‌ஷன் என மேம்போக்காகத் திரைக்கதை அமைத்து, சில சுவாரஸ்ய காட்சிகள் மற்றும் தொழில்நுட்ப பிரமிப்புகளின் உதவியால் தன்னிடமே போராடி தன்னை காத்துக்கொள்கிறது இந்த `கல்கி 2898 ஏடி'.

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Five International Movies to Stream Now

This month’s selections include a Japanese serial-killer thriller, a Pride Month pick from Sri Lanka, a Malaysian drama about undocumented street hustlers and more.

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By Devika Girish

‘If From Every Tongue It Drips’

Stream it on the Criterion Channel.

Part of the Criterion Channel’s ongoing Queersighted series, this debut feature by the Pakistani Canadian artist Sharlene Bamboat deploys cinema as a kind of metaphysical ferry: It moves irreverently across the boundaries between countries, languages and genres, and between image and text. Filmed in Batticaloa in Sri Lanka, scored in the Isle of Skye in Scotland, and edited in Montreal, Canada, the movie is in part a portrait of a lesbian poet, Ponni, shot intimately on video by her partner, Sarala.

Speaking in a mix of Tamil and English, Ponni meditates on notions of duality in quantum physics and Urdu poetry, and the history of British colonialism and protest art in South Asia. Onscreen captions by the group Collective Text offer not just linguistic translations but also sensory notations. Appearing in various parts of the screen, the text lyrically describes the sounds and moods of the film ( horn bleaaats ; flowing water gently laps the shore ), with different colors indicating different tenors. A layered, often prismatic experience, “If From Every Tongue It Drips” invites us to read, listen, see and think with extraordinary curiosity, embodying the questing thrill of queerness in form as much as content.

‘Lumberjack the Monster’

Stream it on Netflix.

Any new feature by the prolific Japanese director Takashi Miike should be celebrated as a cinematic event, and it’s a mystery that his latest has arrived on Netflix without a ton of buzz. “Lumberjack the Monster” is a gory serial-killer thriller that would be electrifying in a theater, though it is deliciously entertaining even on the small screen. A murderer dressed as a lumberjack is on the loose, bludgeoning a selective breed of victims — clinical psychopaths — and then stealing their brains. When he targets Akira Ninomiya (Kazuya Kamenashi), a ruthless lawyer with plenty of blood on his own hands, a three-way chase ensues between the two men and a forensic profiler, opening up an old, sinister case about a mad couple who experimented on children.

It’s a convoluted and pulpy script with some silly pop-psychologizing on evil and empathy, but in classic Miike fashion, the fun is in the style rather than the substance. The twists are thrilling, playing on the moral gray areas of all the characters; the action is directed with sleek, often gasp-inducing precision; and Kamenashi, with his perfectly shaped, dagger-like brows, is menacingly captivating onscreen.

‘Non-Aligned: Scenes From the Labudovic Reels’

Stream it on Ovid.

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