The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh News : Surprise thriller of the season

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Apr 15, 2008
ePaper | Mobile/PDA Version

Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh

Surprise thriller of the season

Engrossing narrative: ‘Geeta’ presents a mix of mystery, ingenuity and intrigue.

Film: Geeta

Cast: Rishi, Shriya Jha, Brahmaji

Direction: Surya Tej

A taut story line, a lesser known star cast, interesting narration make ‘Geeta’ a surprise thriller of this summer. It has everything; love, mystery, ingenuity, intrigue but an unconvincing and far less sophisticated climax coupled with bad promotional strategy, which is drawing fewer people to the theatres.

Rahul (Rishi) is a conman who aspires to take a short route to success by befriending gullible customers and promising to fulfil their dreams. Wealth, wine and women become the focus of his career and his wife Sandhya (Shriya Jha) is oblivious of his character throughout the film. The first half throws light on Rishi and how he cheats people, post interval, becomes gripping with a series of murders and how he gets entangled in a hapless situation.

Best part

The best part about the film is the screenplay and how the director builds the story. A full 40 minutes of the film is set in a public telephone booth and the dialogue is between an unidentified voice and Rishi. After the suspense is out, one wants to sit through the finale too just to find out how the director is going to bring the curtains down.

A couple of songs and music by Sunil Kashyap distract in the beginning and Srinivas who plays Rishi’s friend provides the right relief. Hamsanandini who was difficult to please in her debut film is convincing and effective as the jilted woman. Hema has all the right expressions and Brahmaji and Sai Kumar do their part well.

The film is not an overwhelming technical achievement but the engrossing narration coupled with plain and simple dialogues by Veeru Pothana eclipse the flaws. Rishi with a whirlwind performance keeps you glued to the seats.

This could be a frivolous ride if you are considering the director’s lacklustre curriculum vitae but go without expectations you’d be at least surprised.

But for those who keep track of Hollywood movies, it ain’t a surprise, as ‘Geeta’ turns out to be a copy of one of the most successful films in recent times – ‘Phone Booth.’

Y.SUNITA CHOWDHARY

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Andhra Pradesh