R ARIVANANTHAM
With poor script coupled with subpar performance of the actors, Hansika Motwani’s ‘Guardian’, horror-revenge thriller, failed to cheer up the spirit of fans.
Raghava Lawrence’s horror films and Jyotika’s Chandramukhi dance were super-dupers. Any attempt to outwit them requires meticulous script and direction. Use of VFX technology without proper homework will not draw the audience to the screens. Present-day fans are tech savvy and demanding more authentic films with out-of-the-box thinking.
Trailer:
In this woman-centric film, Hansika Motwani’s character is more important as her appearance, personality, and behavior shoulder the film. Hansika fails to do justice to her character letting down the fans spirits in this horror-revenge thriller. Although the initial fall can be forgiven as starting trouble, the rest of the film drags on without picking up the pace, indicating that it is not just a starting error.
Sorcerers have always been used as catalysts or one of the central elements in Indian horror films. Guardian also begins with sorcery, with a title card that features a kid with a doll in her hands. These visuals are padded with Sam CS’s jarring score and the underwhelming VFX that tries to evoke a sense of dread but only ends up testing your patience instead. Hansika’s Aparna, who at one point does experiments in a chemistry lab is now an interior designer somehow. The film is marked with such baffling writing choices.
The problems in the writing are even more evident when you look at the characterization of Aparna more closely. While the writing suggests that Aparna is unlucky, it fails to provide any insight into her personality or preferences. This leaves you wondering if Aparna holds any significance to the story, despite appearing in every other scene. The weakness in the writing becomes all the more apparent with how the story is presented. When scenes are sporadically juxtaposed with flashbacks, without obvious visual cues, it becomes difficult to understand.
It’s unfortunate that the film’s horror elements come across as more comedic than the actual attempts at humour, which are poorly integrated into the story.
Aparna’s first encounter with supernatural entities is shown in the intermission, but in the very next scene, she is shown washing her face, with no trace of emotions left from the previous incident. Thus inconsistencies galore in writing and performances, music, cinematography, and makeup.
Cast
Hansika Motwani, Motta Rajendran, Sriman
Director: Sabari- Guru Saravanan
