The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh News : This ‘Cell’ is passable

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Saturday, Aug 16, 2008
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Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh

This ‘Cell’ is passable

Film: Cell

Cast: Sameer, Prabhakar

Director: Venkat Naryana

Cell is supposed to be a crime thriller. It groans with blood and dismemberment right from the very beginning but doesn’t scare you or thrill you. The content is all dark. Initially the movie is interesting, intelligent and engaging but loses the grip subsequently. Four friends who have shared hard moments in life rob a bank. On the way back, the police trails them and in the process one is rendered incapacitated and lies on the hospital bed having suffered multiple fractures. The other is kidnapped with his wife and son, the third is forced to chop his own leg and the fourth is hanged.

What one sees in this film is only crime but not retribution. The film shows the dark side of the human nature right from the word go, as to how the lure of the lucre becomes the cause of one’s downfall. So one hardly empathises with the characters but instead is made to feel repulsive. The director keeps the curiosity alive and brings in an element of suspense as to why the four friends are made to go through a torture but falters on a tame climax.

Most of the film takes place in a dilapidated shed and the conversations are mainly over the phone. After two characters are done to death, the focus is on Abhiram (Sameer), who has to save his family before the clock strikes twelve. The scenes are disquieting, men in chains trying to wrangle out, sound of the oozing blood is more like a leaking tap, but the script doesn’t push you to the edge of the seats when the clock keeps ticking fast. There are cops who take their own sweet time to unravel the murder mystery. One commendable aspect of the film is that the angst, helplessness, frustration, selfishness and impulsive behaviour of the four characters are brought out effectively.

Y. S.C.

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