Quick Review: Game Over
By Rinku Gupta
YNOT studios' home invasion thriller Game Over is directed by Ashwin Saravanan of Maya ( starring Nayanthara) fame, with Taapsee Pannu making a return to Tamil after a few years.
The film revolves around a video games creator Sapna( Taapsee) who suffers from phobia of the dark, apart from being affected by trauma symptoms when the anniversary of a past tragedy triggers subconscious memories. She even contemplates suicide. She lives alone with her maid Kala ( Vinodhini Vaidhyanathan) who helps her through this tough time.
As if this was not enough, another series of events await her which pushes her nearer to the edge. Does she keel over? Or does she fight her demons and rise like a phoenix?
Ashwin and co- writer Kaavya deserve credit for the tight screenplay, research and unusual choice of story. The thrills and jumps will keep viewers glued and also guessing. The first half builds up the tension and the puts the pieces of the puzzle in place, though a tad slowly. However ,the second half takes off with speed leading to a spellbinding finish. Revealing more would give away spoilers.
Taapsee has outdone herself, immersing herself completely in the role of Sapna. Its a meaty part and she bites into it with gusto. The entire film centres around her and she shoulders her responsibilty with a credible performance nuanced with subtlety and sans undue histrionics. It is to her credit ( and also confidence in herself and the script) that the actor has chosen to re-connect with her Tamil audiences in a totally new way via a heroine-centric thriller, without taking the more comfortable conventional formula film route. In recent times Nayanthara, Anushka Shetty, Samantha, Aishwarya Rajesh, and Jyothika to name a few, have been essaying women -centric films and carrying them off with aplomb. Taapsee now joins this list with Game Over. Lets hope more producers and directors/ writers come forward with more stories reflecting the various facets of the lives of women in society.
Vinodhini does full justice to her role while Ramya Subramaniam makes her presence felt along with Sanchana Natarajan ( in a compelling performance)
The bgm by Ron Ethan Yohann adds the necessary chills while A Vasanth's camerawork and lighting enhance the feel of the various moods of the film. Special mention to the sound design and art direction team, both major mood setters.
Certainly a new attempt in Tamil, a thriller with a strong emotional connect, but not for the weak -hearted.
YNOT studios' home invasion thriller Game Over is directed by Ashwin Saravanan of Maya ( starring Nayanthara) fame, with Taapsee Pannu making a return to Tamil after a few years.
The film revolves around a video games creator Sapna( Taapsee) who suffers from phobia of the dark, apart from being affected by trauma symptoms when the anniversary of a past tragedy triggers subconscious memories. She even contemplates suicide. She lives alone with her maid Kala ( Vinodhini Vaidhyanathan) who helps her through this tough time.
As if this was not enough, another series of events await her which pushes her nearer to the edge. Does she keel over? Or does she fight her demons and rise like a phoenix?
Ashwin and co- writer Kaavya deserve credit for the tight screenplay, research and unusual choice of story. The thrills and jumps will keep viewers glued and also guessing. The first half builds up the tension and the puts the pieces of the puzzle in place, though a tad slowly. However ,the second half takes off with speed leading to a spellbinding finish. Revealing more would give away spoilers.
Taapsee has outdone herself, immersing herself completely in the role of Sapna. Its a meaty part and she bites into it with gusto. The entire film centres around her and she shoulders her responsibilty with a credible performance nuanced with subtlety and sans undue histrionics. It is to her credit ( and also confidence in herself and the script) that the actor has chosen to re-connect with her Tamil audiences in a totally new way via a heroine-centric thriller, without taking the more comfortable conventional formula film route. In recent times Nayanthara, Anushka Shetty, Samantha, Aishwarya Rajesh, and Jyothika to name a few, have been essaying women -centric films and carrying them off with aplomb. Taapsee now joins this list with Game Over. Lets hope more producers and directors/ writers come forward with more stories reflecting the various facets of the lives of women in society.
Vinodhini does full justice to her role while Ramya Subramaniam makes her presence felt along with Sanchana Natarajan ( in a compelling performance)
The bgm by Ron Ethan Yohann adds the necessary chills while A Vasanth's camerawork and lighting enhance the feel of the various moods of the film. Special mention to the sound design and art direction team, both major mood setters.
Certainly a new attempt in Tamil, a thriller with a strong emotional connect, but not for the weak -hearted.
