Red
Introduction
It is raining remakes this weekend. So before I get to The Girl On The Train, a remake of the Hollywood film by the same name, I have just finished watching Red, the Telugu official remake of the Tamil film Thadam. Under our brand new section Popcorn Quickies, you could check out the rating of Thadam. But here is the full length review of Red. So then is it worth your time, stay tuned.
Story & Screenplay
Red follows the same story as Thadam – Two identical twins get caught in a unique whodunnit. But who is the culprit? If you have watched Thadam then you will know exactly where this story is headed. But it is the screenplay that scores well. The thing with remakes are, and something that Bollywood is guilty of most of the time is that they actually make a hash of the screenplay, sometimes in copying it as it is and sometimes in trying to pull off something extremely different. And there is a fine line between the two and Red pulls it off quite well. While the first half could have been a little quicker, the pace is well maintained in the second half when the actually investigation is on. For cinephiles who haven’t watched Thadam, will genuinely enjoy the twists and turns here, and for those who have watched Thadam will get to watch some sparkling performances(which I will get to in a bit).
Dialogues, Music & Direction
The dialogues are mass appealing. The music and particularly the BGM is quite good and it enhances the drama. Director Thirumala Kishore has done a pretty good job with the direction. The interest in the whodunnit was intact throughout.
Performances
Malvika Sharma as Mahima looks pretty and really shines in a cameo. Her screen presence is magnetic. Amritha Aiyer as Gayathri exudes of innocence that makes her likable. Satya as Vema is decent. Nivetha Pethuraj as Yamini has delivered a strong performance. She is introduced late in the movie and she is on point from the word go. But the star of the show in dual roles of Aditya and Siddharth is Ram Pothineni. This is one of the first films that I have watched of him, and boy does he have some swag. His performance is excellent and dare I say that parts of it will stay with you after the film is over.
Conclusion
Red is a worthy remake of Thadam that will keep you glued throughout. Available on Netflix.