555 – A Movie for Action Junkies

Visitor Review by S. Arun

Ainthu Ainthu Ainthu (555) stars Bharath, Santhanam and Mrithika in lead roles. Erica Fernandez plays a significant role. The music composer is Simon and film directed by Sasi. Sasi after his underrated ‘Poo’ has done an action thriller for the first time.  The plot is about a man’s quest for his lover and attempts to lead a normal life. There is a sinister conspiracy involved in sabotaging his attempt.

Screenplay & Direction:

The first half and the subsequent portions  are built in a strong manner. The  movie scores well with Bharath and Santhanam combination in the first half  reminding one of Kanden Kathalai. Santhanam has done justice to a completely different character role. The comedy sequences are not top class and are not cringe-worthy.

There are some sore points in the first half particularly with respect to placement of songs. The love track between the hero and  heroine is developed poorly, making one question whether it is  done by an experienced campaigner like Sasi. Another place  where he slips  is in the characterization. Initially Bharath’s character Aravind seems to  suffer from Nepali hangover . The heroine’s character is shown to be gullible who believes the hero has special powers! The director makes it up with the characterization  of the second heroine which throws a surprise. But here the logic is questionable as the character’s motive is not completely convincing.

Both the beginning and post-interval portions are well developed by Sasi. A sense of curiosity is kindled in the mind  regarding how the second half will pan out. The reason for the film’s title is presented well in the accident scene. However, the screenplay lacks finesse in the second half.

There are lots of fascinating twists and turns which can either confuse or surprise you completely. The twists and turns are largely surprising. Both a lot of them combined well with the villain’s motives make it a tiring experience. The motive of villain is not convincing making it difficult to relate to the film. It seems that Sasi has compressed a lot of substance in shorter intervals which causes the screenplay to suffer.

Technical Department

The film has its share of inspirations from films like Bourne Conspiracy and Nepali.But the director has presented the film in his own style within the framework of the story. Technically the film is classy and  editing is top notch. The action sequences are raw and superb, particularly the last 30 minutes. 

The songs by Simon are largely unimpressive with none of them registering on the mind. Simon shines in the BGM for thriller and action portions. Both the songs Elavu , Rowdy Girls are poorly placed. The choreography for most of the songs is impressive and scores high on the creative aspect. 

Recommendation:

Overall, the film is satisfying and it is reasonably well-helmed by director Sasi. Though the screenplay is not completely convincing, the film ends up a reasonably satisfying watch. Despite some flaws, the film needs to be seen with an open mind.

Rating – 2.5/5