Movie Review: Route No.17
The Jithan Ramesh starrer Route No. 17 is a thriller set in a forest, directed by Abhilash Devan.
Two lovebirds ( Anju Pandiya and Akhil Prabhakaran both debuting from.Mollywood) enter a deep forest to spend a night of seclusion, away from the city.
But they land in trouble when a strange forest dweller kidnaps them and puts them in an underground lair.
In the meanwhile the ops are alerted as the boyfriend is an ex minister's son. But even a cop ( Amar Ramachandran) is also kidnapped when he goes on the trail of Route No 17 to find the victims. Arivu Madhan plays the constable who unravels the tale, which leads back to certain past events of a face off between an engineer ( Jithan Ramesh) and a politician ( Harish Peradi).
Who is the strange kidnapper living in the forest? Why did he kidnap the young couple? What is his backstory? Do the youngsters get rescued?
For Jithan Ramesh its a different role. There are hardly any dialogues but there is more of action for him. Akhil and Anju look good and do a credible job with Anju leaving a mark with all the scenes involving her attempts to escape. Arivu Madhan steals the show with his performance. Harish Peradi also shines in his brief cameo.
The forest portions are well shot , the jump scares and the chases have the necessary effect of keeping you on tenterhooks.
The underground den looks chilling and kudos to the art deparment for that.
The music by Mollywood ace composer Ouseppachan is apt with the songs standing out.
On the flip side some scenes seem repetitive and seem to add length to the film.
Overall the film is an engaging thriller with solid performances , good casting and a different storyline.
