E

Kukku Surendran’s E is a horror film that isn’t devoid of the tactics one see in almost all the films in this genre. From the usual gimmicks we see in this genre to black magic and related things, the element of surprise is pretty much zero here and the only thing that could have saved this film from being dull was the making. But with a highly dramatic predictable pattern, director can’t elevate this script to a better zone.

Four friends who are passionate about film making decided to begin their adventure by making a documentary first. They chose the topic of alzheimer’s for the documentary and goes to Harippadu to meet a patient named Malathy. The supernatural things that happen there after their entry and how it all goes forward are what E talking about.

One logically positive thing in the whole film I found was that most of them had that sense to take someone along with them when they were going after something that was spooky. That’s the only positive in my opinion. Other than that, the whole film is that pattern horror film. It has an evil spirit hunting people, there is a back story to it and outsiders have come to the place to solve the mystery. I found it a bit disturbing when people were talking about an alzheimer’s patient’s condition in front of that patient. After setting up the plot by using all the excessive subplots in the first half, film becomes a little more serious in the second half. While you tend to appreciate something in the film, they will add something to spoil the mood.

Gautami who makes a comeback to Malayalam after a considerable gap is convincing when she is calm. But there are phases where the character has an eccentric shift and she couldn’t really deliver in those areas. Other than her, the film has 6 new faces Ashiq Ameer, Balaji Jayaraman, Daine David Kalyani Vidya, Meera Nair and Nithya and they all weren’t that great. Krishnan Balakrishnan and Anjali are the other supporting actors who are familiar to the audience.

Kukku Surendran can’t make it look more realistic in terms of character behaviour. The reason why some of the horror films in the recent past worked was because of the realness it had in presenting characters and their thought process. Here the dialogues are too heavy. The Screenplay tries to make it a package by squeezing in comedy and romance. The music from Rahul Raj is one of the finest we have heard this year, but the placement of that third song in the film was terrible. Cuts were cluttered. Cinematography of the film tries to be ambitious, but can’t really deliver the kind of intrigue one would expect.

If you have felt that Ezra was a really good horror film, E might not be a big disappointment for you. But for someone like me who wasn’t a great fan of the Prithviraj starrer, this one is a below average film.

Rating: 2/5