Her Movie Review: Ruhani Sharma shines as a cop in a gripping thriller
Ruhani Sharma made a strong impression in Telugu cinema with Chi La Sow and HIT movies. She broke the stereotypes by playing a police officer in her latest film HER – Chapter 1. Directed by Sreedhar Swaraghav, the film hit the screens on Friday as a crime investigative thriller.
Plot:
The film begins with the murder of a couple, Vishal Pasupuleti (Vinod Varma) and Swati (Abhijna). ACP Archana Prasad (Ruhani Sharma) takes charge of the investigation, which has no clues or evidence. Archana accepts the challenge and tries to crack the case with her intelligence and intuition. She soon finds out that the murder is linked to a terrorist named Keshav, who was involved in the death of her boyfriend Seshadri (Vikas Vashishta) in a previous operation.
How does Archana unravel the mystery behind these murders? How did Seshadri die? What is the connection between Vishal and Swati? How does a police officer play a role in this case? How does Archana catch the real killer who is also behind a series of robberies in the city? These are the questions that drive the story of Her (Her Movie Review).
Analysis:
Crime stories are always appealing to the audience, regardless of the time and trend. However, most of them follow a similar pattern, where the hero faces a tough challenge and overcomes it with his smartness.
The director has to present these routine stories in a novel way, with twists, turns, surprises and suspense that keep the audience guessing. These crime stories work only when they are executed well. Director Sreedhar Swaraghav has managed to make Her an engaging movie to some extent.
Unlike most crime stories that have a male protagonist, director Sreedhar choose to make this movie with a female-centric theme. Ruhani Sharma is the hero of this movie (Her Movie Review), as evident from the title. He tried to make the film a complete mind game thriller from her perspective.
The movie picks up pace when Ruhani Sharma takes up the twin murder case. The director has written well the scenes where Ruhani Sharma solves each clue related to the case. The realistic portrayal of the police investigation, the challenges they face, and the methods they use is commendable. The director avoids the clichéd hero-villain confrontation and shows how the police deal with crime in a realistic way.
The second half becomes more interesting with a personal conflict between Archana and the killer. The movie could have been better if the scenes where Archana finds out the real killer through the robbery episodes were written more carefully . The director also introduces politics in the police system (Her Movie Review), which adds another layer to the story. However, after revealing the identity of the villain, the director ends the movie abruptly. He leaves a twist for the sequel, where Archana will catch him. A good idea but…
The idea of making a crime investigation thriller with a female lead is commendable, but choosing a routine story is the biggest drawback of this movie. There have been many movies in Telugu with similar crime stories. They seem to follow a formula. The director could have worked more on the twists and turns. Some parts of the story feel dragged.
Performances:
Ruhani Sharma steals the show in Her Chapter-1. Ruhani, who has mostly played soft and sweet roles before, has tried to pull off the role of a cop. However, she fails to bring out the toughness of the character in some scenes. Vikas Vasishna, Abhijna, Pradeep Rudra and Jeevan Kumar have done well in their roles.
A treat for crime movie fans only…
Verdict: Her movie will appeal to the fans of crime genre movies. If you watch it with an open mind, you will find it engaging.
