Debutant director A.Raghavendra Prasad's '54321' is a thriller based on the story of a psychopath killer which falls way short of its target with taxing narration mainly due to lack of interesting ideas.
Vikram (Shabeer) suddenly breaks into the bungalow of Vinoth (Arvin) at late night and takes hostage of the latter, his wife Anjali (Pavithra), father (Ravi Raghavendar) and a girl child. He ties Vinoth with a chain and orders him to kill the child otherwise, his wife will be killed.
What is the relationship or enmity between Vikram and Vinoth? What are the reasons behind Vikram’s outrageous activities? Does Vinoth manage to save himself and his family from the heartless criminal Vikram? These are the questions answered in the rest of the film.
The film starts with a series of unconnected events. That is followed by some establishment scenes that are redundantly detailed and slow. The script takes its own sweet time to establish the lead characters and the crisis within which our patience reaches the high point.
The way Vikram keeps Vinoth and his family under his control for a long time without letting them resist requires the viewer to suspend disbelief for a lot of reasons.
The story is narrated with a flashback for each of the main characters but out of them, the ones for Vinoth’s love with Anjali and the one to establish the background of the thief, could be considered as mere inclusion to extend the running time for two hours, as they do not add anything to the main story which deals with the conflict between Vikram and Vinoth.
The background of this conflict and the character sketch of Vikram have been portrayed with ample detailing and they are also predominantly engaging. But the two major deaths that happen in these sequences could have been portrayed in a convincing manner.
Apart from that, we get constantly worried about the fate of Vinoth’s wife and the child. This offers some real thrilling moments and more focus on such elements could have enhanced the experience to a great extent.
At one point we start expecting that the film will give some hard hitting revelations on the impact of inhuman treatment in juvenile homes and prisons. But that hope gets dissolved within a few minutes as the problem is only with the lead character who is shown as an inmate and not the treatment accorded to him.
The A certificate given for the film is completely justified. Even for adults, certain depictions of violence are highly unpalatable, especially the interval block.
Shabeer is a promising find as he is by all means apt for the role of a smart, brawny psychopath killer. The instances where he mockingly imitates his hostages deserves special credits. Performances by Arvin and Pavithra pass muster. Ravi Raghavendar and Rohini (who comes as a convent school teacher) come up with performances that prove their experience and expertise in acting. Jayakumar as the thief, who accidentally gets stuck in the bungalow, utilizes the scope to perform with varied emotions and expressions and offers some entertaining moments in the film.
Shabeer is a promising find as he is by all means apt for the role of a smart, brawny psychopath killer. The instances where he mockingly imitates his hostages deserves special credits. Performances by Arvin and Pavithra pass muster. Ravi Raghavendar and Rohini (who comes as a convent school teacher) come up with performances that prove their experience and expertise in acting. Jayakumar as the thief, who accidentally gets stuck in the bungalow, utilizes the scope to perform with varied emotions and expressions and offers some entertaining moments in the film.
Rerecording by Joshua Sridhar supplements the thriller quotient well, while the songs fail to make any impact. Banu Murugan’s cinematography is adequate. Editor M.R.Rejeesh could have implied scissors in many unwanted shots especially in the first twenty minutes. Ram’s Art direction deserves plaudits for designing the bungalow where the main act happens. The idea to show the freezing of time every time the script moves to flash back and the way it has been portrayed, deserve a pat on the back. The hill location, convent school, prisons, and mental care home - everything look real.
Verdict: This thriller film has some real thrilling moments but the taxing narration and lack of interesting ideas make it a taxing watch.
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