Too Slow For A Thriller

Telugu web series trying a thriller storyline is a welcome change. We need to appreciate the director, cast and producers for bringing such content. But they seem to have taken more inspirations from English series in pacing, structure and story telling as well. This creates problems for the series, at least in the first season.  

Dark mood and dim lighting capture the tone well but the series tends to drag a lot. Scenes try to tell the same point again and again. In one sequence, we are shown that the protagonist, Dr. Anand Chakravarthy doesn't care about food when he is assigned work. He is called a miracle worker by his boss and he doesn't care much about the praise. He doesn't mind being called into surgeries back to back and he is almost a beast when it comes to work.

So, what is the problem in this? The creators lose this aspect about him as soon as the twist is revealed. The character motivation is not established properly too. As he is the main lead and the person we need to connect with or hate, if his character motivation, behavior and head space, doesn't get enough space to be explored, in a clear cut manner strongly, the entire series looks like a surface level drama than an engaging thriller.

Vasu Inturi's character as a police officer seems to be designed to make us get irritated and ask the killer to kill him fast. That is partly due to the lengthy scenes that go nowhere too. We know the beats, can predict what's going to happen but to get there, the makers take more time as if they wanted to fill the length just with one scene. Due to this approach, may be forced by budget limitations, the thriller looses the grip on the story all the time.

The subplots built to bring as many characters as they can into a locked situation appear silly at times. Also, the writers weren't comfortable with fewer characters building on the tension. One feels so, because they keep going back to their back stories to give them the motivation to enter the house, in which end up being locked.

The climax part too doesn't really standout. Thrillers are generally made on a smaller budget than other genres and hence, the impact of the kill, action and motivation become key to engage audiences. The main plot ends up being treated as a subplot as it isn't developed to its full potential.

Series could have been better had the twist was delivered sooner. Also, the screenplay would have been tighter with less characters as they don't yield anything to the story, not even any thrill aspect. Those characters like Police Officer, Doctor, his wife could have been removed as well. The story doesn't get affected by them in any manner too. The protagonist could come out in open with other characters instigating or irritating him as well.

The point is the writers and directors seem to have lost their focus in trying to add many things and the real plot ended up being untouched or just explained at surface level. May be they will correct in a season 2, if they get that chance.

Recommendation: Not a must-watch.