12th Man, Review

 Jeethu joseph is well known for his investigative dramas, his latest release "12th man" starring Mohanlal is also such a crime thriller.

Plot.

The film starts when a group of college friends and their partners tour to a hill station for celebrating one's bachelor's party along with his would be. Having enough confidence on their mutual transparency, they start a game to expose their phone calls and chats for the next one hour. Each call reveals their secrets including their past relationships.

The party then turned out to be a mysterious rat trap on themselves and they seek help from each other to keep safe. Meanwhile Shiny, one of the leading character dies in a suspicious circumstance. Her body be found on a rocky notch down in that hill station. DYSP Chandrashekharan (Mohanlal) comes to the hotel to investigate Shiny's death and reveals the truth one by one by playing the same game that they were playing just before shiny's death.

Positives.

1) Mohanlal and all other actors dissembled the scenes with ease as they were just reacting to the situation convincingly normal. Casting is perfectly suited to the performers so that there is nothing came off as challenging to them.

2) Script was so sensible and normal..Even without any breakthrough science or outstanding intellectual exercise, it could smoothly create a sense of suspense, confusion, thrill and logic.

3) Though the events mostly occurs inside a tourist hill station, visuals are so scenic , and melded with glowing lights in night shots , often comprise of rains and most that beautify the scenes.

Negatives.

1) Its better to skip the first 14 minutes as the screenplay tries to convey the depth of friendship among the characters and briefly hint a visual portrait about each one. This is very lagging and less interesting.

2) Sometimes the film felt like  Big boss reality show where the characters fights at each other and Mohanlal mediating the plot.

3) Accidental death of the character named Shaini could have taken better. Fall from such a lower hight that made head injuries and immediate death is less convincing.

4) With lots of secrets between each other including high monetary transactions and infidelity, why they all agree to play such a game is still another mystery.

Rating.

Am giving 7/10 for this easy going thriller. And advice you to watch it alone.