After playing Dhanush's brother in Velai Illa Pattadhari, Hrishikesh makes his debut as a lead actor with Rum, which has hit the screens today.
Rum is the latest addition to the long, long list of horror comedy films in Tamil cinema. Vivek, Hrishikesh, Sanchita, Amzath and Arjun Chidambaram are a group of people who indulge in robbery activities for money. Situations force them to stay in a guest house, where they experience many unusual happenings. What is the reason for all these happenings and why are the souls disturbing these five people? How are they connected to the ghosts? You’d get the answer to all these questions when you witness the film.
Hrishikesh who plays the lead could have emoted better and worked on his expressions more. Sanchita’s character has less scope to perform, though she travels throughout the film. Vivek has been the backbone of this movie because his comedy one-liners save the movie from its low moments. Miya George comes in a very brief role for about 15 to 20 minutes, while Narain, gets a meaty role to perform.
Talking about Vivek’s comedy, though, it is enjoyable, it is surprising and shocking to see double entendre dialogues coming from an experienced artist like him. His one-liners on Vijay - Ajith fan fight and meme creators earn huge applause from youngsters.
The initial moments in the film test your patience, and you do not have any clue on what is happening. Only towards the interval, you get a clear picture of the film, and the pre-interval portions set the base for an interesting second half. You get to see why and how the ghosts are connected to the heist gang, in the second half. The flashback portions are very much predictable, which lower the film’s engagement. There are many cliched horror touches in the movie, like jump scares, doll sounds, power cut, etc and the U/A certification for the film is also justifiable.
Rum is Anirudh’s first horror venture and he has done a decent job with the film’s songs and background score. While listening to audio, the music is pleasant and hummable, but when you hear it along with the film, there is no sync with the visuals. Visuals and edit could have been much more effective because both don’t gel with each other.
Director Sai Bharath can be appreciated for not using any slapstick comedies in the film, which is a very common phenomenon in recent horror comedies. On the other hand, he could have worked more on the screenplay, as the film lacks clarity and moves cluelessly in its initial moments.