Watchman is director Vijay's first collaboration with actor GV Prakash, although he has worked with GV Prakash as a music director many times. With an interesting premise and an amazing pet, has director Vijay managed to provide a good watch? Read to know more.
The story starts right from the word ‘Go!’. Bala played by GV Prakash comes out of a police station and seems very nervous about something. As he is striding on his bike thinking about gathering money to pay back his loan, he stumbles upon a big villa. Once he hears that everyone from that house is not in town that night, he decides to rob the house.
When he climbs the villa's compound wall and jumps on the other side, his fall is deep. The task and the wall seemed possible at first but then just as Bala, we fall into something deeper. Bala’s multiple attempts to somehow break into the villa without causing a scene gets him face to face with Bruno, the dog.
Finally, after failed attempts to escape Bruno, he gains courage and gets into the villa. Although the moments that lead to this are not very thrilling, there is a nice pace that keeps us engaged. The second half is all about the mystery that lies within that alarmingly silent villa.
Cinematography by Nirav Shah, in every scene, is beautifully handled. There is so much reality in the scenes that take place in the day and so much brilliance in every scene that takes place in the dark. We get to explore a villa in the night time, in complete darkness, but we get to see its details and grandeur.
Music is another big support to the film. The scenes that demand silence are left that way and the scenes that could have brought the excitement down are lifted by the background score. The music director GV Prakash has known clearly what he should be doing and has done almost complete justice. One of the biggest positive of this thriller is it has focussed to the core plot without any distractions including songs, which helped the runtime to be crisp.
The actor GV Prakash needs a pat on the back for the growth he has shown in his recent performances. Watchman is another example that an actor in GV Prakash is in the rise. Yogi Babu has added his comedy flavour subtly yet funnily to this thriller even though he comes only for few scenes. Samyuktha Hegde, Munishkanth, Stunt Silva, Editor Antony have come in much lesser parts of the story but have done their roles decently. Suman and Raj Arjun occupy their screen space interestingly well.
But the special attraction in the film is definitely Bruno, the dog. Be it the scene where the dog helps the thief who has entered the house or how he fights, cheats and escapes from the murderers, he did shine as a hero in the film. Manohar Verma has choreographed believable, exciting stunt sequences for both the humans and the dog.
The story until Bala getting into the house could have been crispier and more engaging just as everything that follows. The terrorists who escape jail, break in and fire in the dark could be expected to be smarter than the dog that lights up one of them to death. Though in some places, there are some cinematic liberties and predictable plotlines, the excitement is maintained well by the cinematographer and the music composer.
Vijay’s thrilling screenplay is surely a good piece of work and he has to be praised for keeping it short without any lengthy flashbacks, unwanted romantic songs, and unbelievable villains. He has stayed true to his story and thus, Watchman has come off as a good engaging film made with honest efforts.