Aswathama - Movie Review

Aswathama Movie Review: Watchable thriller with dark theme

What’s it about!

Priya gets engaged but she’s shocked to know that she is pregnant. She has had no love affair, nor she had sex with her husband-to-be.  With no memory of participating in intercourse, she attempts suicide but her brother Guna (Naga Shaurya) saves her. When Guna goes to the hospital to get treated for a small injury, he sees the death of a girl who committed suicide. In her suicide letter, she says that she’s pregnant and has no memory of how did it happen. More random deaths of women follow and Guna is on a mission to hunt down the psycho behind these.

Analysis

In mythology Mahabharat, Aswathama was the son of Drona who is believed to be a living survivor of the Kurukshetra war, however, he was defeated by Arjuna. Here in the film, the protagonist plays the role of an Aswathama who can defeat the demon. Mythological references are frequently made in the film but it is essentially an actioner in the genre of serial-killer thrillers. 

‘Aswathama’ begins on a wobbling note but builds the interest after 20 minutes. Not diverting from the point, the drama squarely focuses on finding the culprit. Girls commit suicide in shame, deaths keep happening and the villain is unknown. This is a standard setup in serial killer thrillers but despite this, the movie holds the interest with some gripping episodes. But the writers and director have taken much time to reveal the identity of the villain. Once the villain is known, the film turns slack. It is Jisshu Sengupta who saves the film with his performance. 

He is perfect as a cold-blooded psychopath. It may seem that there is no proper motive for him to do such heinous crimes but the makers have employed the technique of Koreana thrillers which don’t explain much about the psychopath’s motives. However, it sounds illogical to see that most of the young women he raped get pregnant. There are issues in this thriller but it holds the interest till the end. Action stunts, Jisshu Sengupta’s performance, Ghibran’s background score have helped here. 

Coming to performances, Naga Shaurya is believable in this action role. Known for rom-coms, Shaurya is convincing here. As said, Jisshu steals the show. The rest of the cast is wasted. Mehreen looks totally out of place in this whole setup. 

New director Ramana Teja has succeeded in creating tense moments. 

Bottom-line: ‘Aswathama’ is a decent thriller with some engaging moments. The  dark theme, however, is inexplicable, Overall, it is a watchable thriller with some okay twists.