Chennai: One man. Varied emotions. This sums up the murder mystery thriller Oththa Seruppu, which is written, produced, directed and enacted by R Parthiepan. A movie with just one character on screen with a runtime of two hours. Will it hold your attention? Will it be as engrossing as the maker promised? The answer is yes. A daringly different attempt that deserves kudos.
The movie begins with Masilamani aka Masi, a middle-aged man, being taken into a partially dark room in a police station for enquiry. He is charged with a murder. His son affected with muscular dystrophy is made to wait outside.
What follows is Masilamani’s startling revelations about the murder(s). He enacts them to the police and in the process, takes the audience on a roller coaster journey of anger, deceit, agony, romance, humour and disappointment.
Three cheers to actor Parthiepan, who compliments writer Parthiepan to execute his dream on screen without any hitch. He pours out quick-changing emotions to near perfection.
Known for always thinking out-of-the-box, Parthiepan has raised the bar here. Though Oththa Seruppu features only him, there are others whose voice, instead of their visual presence, do the talking.
The major highlights of the movie are technical brilliance, honest writing and wordplay. Imagine a movie to be shot inside a small room with just one character and no scope for different shades of lighting. Cinematographer Ramji is right there delivering what Parthiepan has conceived. Add to it the dubbing skills of Parthiepan. Someone who started his career as dubbing artiste is right there executing his natural skills with right voice modulations to add zing to the role. And talk of wordplay, which comes quite naturally for Parthiepan, Oththa Seruppu has some razor-sharp dialogues and witty one-liners that make you think. From Puthiya Padhai some thirty years ago to Othatha Seruppu, Parthiepan has come a long way. Seen highs and lows. But his thirst for quality and different cinema is still there.