‘Lockup’ is the latest Tamil film to opt for a direct digital release during the lockdown. The movie stars Vaibhav, Venkat Prabhu, Easwari Rao, Poorna, Vani Bhojan, and Mime Gopi and is directed by SG Charles with music by Arrol Coreli and Cinematography by Santhanam Sekar. ‘LockUp’ is currently streaming on the OTT Platform Zee5. With an impressive trailer, does ‘Lockup’ keep you engaged till the last moment? Read more to find out.
Possibly, the biggest advantage of ‘LockUp’ is the direct OTT release. Without any commercial elements or cliched romantic portions, there is a deep-dive into the plot. A series of murders take place in the city in close quarters, out of which one happens to be of a cop. Are the two murders related? Whodunit forms the crux of the story.
After a series of impressive performances in recent movies like ‘Meyaadha Maan’ and ‘Sixer’, Vaibhav is back with ‘Lockup’ as a good cop. The very first shot shows a clean shaved Vaibhav looking at a mirror. A picture of Mahatma Gandhi in his room and very good remarks about his achievements amidst the fellow cops - Clearly, the director portrays Vasanth (Vaibhav) as the ‘Good-cop’. There is also not any backdrop on the love that blooms between Vaibhav and Vani Bhojan.
On the other hand, Venkat Prabhu as ‘Moorthy’ is the ‘not-so-good’ cop and it is clearly evident from the teaser and the trailer of the movie. A rugged Venkat Prabhu sporting a beard as a cop with a bit of vengeance in his eyes - This is how he travels throughout the story. Venkat Prabhu has directed many movies in which there are a few cops who are baddies (Saroja, Mankatha, Biriyani, Maasu Engira Maasilamani) and in ‘Lockup’, as an actor, he has succeeded in bringing out the same flavour to his character.
The plot shifts back and forth from the present to the flashback (which is a day old) and the director’s non-linear narrative deserves a special mention. Every few minutes, just when you think that the mystery is revealed, there is a change in direction and the director makes you guess and fail every time, up until the final reveal keeping the audience engaged in most parts.
Apart from Vaibhav and Venkat Prabhu, Easwari as the senior police officer has done justice to her part. Her performance is neat and she has definitely delivered what was expected out of her character - a tough cop. Poorna has done a fine job as the maid and there are no complaints from her. Vani Bhojan, who plays Vaibhav’s lady love has a very limited screen presence and one might feel that there is not much scope for her to perform.
Similar to the direction and the screenplay, the music of ‘Lockup’ is equally thrilling. There is a steady pace at which the music is delivered right throughout and at the right places, creating the tension required for a crime thriller. There aren’t any songs in ‘Lockup’ just for the one and that too moves like a flash.
Being a crime thriller, ‘Lockup’ indeed does justice to its genre. There is no much deviation from the plot and it indeed makes you glued to the screen for the entire duration of 1 hour and 46 minutes. The screenplay maintains a steady pace and as the movie gets going, it only gets faster.
‘Lockip’ on the whole is served fresh with the right amount of emotions and minimal cliched elements that we usually witness in ‘Cop Movies’. There are minute flaws like lip-sync issues at a few places, but the tight screenplay makes you overlook them. A strong dialogue at the end of the movie where Poorna's father character says “To kill an innocent human, we are not cops,” is sure to convey the ‘Police Brutality’ in the movie.