Yashoda is an action suspense thriller film written by the duo Hareesh Narayan and Hari Shankar. It stars Samantha in the titular role alongside Unni Mukundan, Varalaxmi Sarathkumar, Murali Sharma and Produced by Sivalenka Krishna Prasad under the banner Sridevi Movies.
An action thriller with a female protagonist is always refreshing if presented well especially if the lead actress has the star power to make us root for her. Samantha's latest offering Yashoda attempts to do the same and fairly succeeds.
As seen in the trailer Yashoda is the torchbearer of hope for a mother who can't give birth to the child. But this journey of hope turns into a dangerous ride as Yashoda is trapped in a world filled with greed and thirst for money. How Yashoda comes out is the rest of the story filled with its own twists and turns.
It is a meaty role for Samantha who carries the film on her able shoulders. Her acting, star power and presence ensures that the audience are invested in the film for most of its duration. It is a very notable performance by Samantha and she gets to do action as well.
All the actors including Varalaxmi Sarathkumar, Unni Mukundan and Sampath Raj are quite adequate and do a neat job. Mani Sharma's music is another added attraction and elevates the scenes. The surrogacy and motherhood angle gives the film the emotional hook that it needs and ensures that the audience is emotionally invested as well.
There are two parallel plots in the film which meet a certain point. And the plotlines manage to keep the suspense factor alive until the reveal is made. The pre-interval and post-interval sequences raise the anticipation level of the audience. Cinematography by Sukumar is another major plus as it presents the Eva surrogacy centre very convincingly. It is almost like a world in itself. The editing by Marthand K Venkatesh ensures that the film is crisp. The intention to dwell deeper into the concept of surrogacy and beauty is commendable.
It is in the second half that the film falls prey to the perils of commercial cinema. Eventually as the twists are revealed one by one it slowly turns into a hero versus villain template with the female lead being the only difference. The way the twists are revealed in the latter part also leaves a lot to be desired. For all the anticipation that was built earlier the film deserved a better writing and a better ending. But the film gets most of its narration right without any hassles.
Hari and Harish come up with a unique take on surrogacy which does make us think. I believe that is their biggest achievement. An intriguing concept presented in a thrilling manner is always a winner despite the slip ups.