Victim: Who is Next? marks the debut of filmmakers Pa Ranjith, Rajesh.M and Chimbudevan. Director Venkat Prabhu, known for his show Live Telecast starring Kajal Aggarwal and Vaibhav back, is also part of the director’s chair. This latest Tamil anthology series is produced by Black Ticket Productions and Axess Film Factory.
Flaunting an ensemble cast, we have actors Priya Bavani Shankar, Natraj, Nasser, Thambi Ramaiah, Natraj Kalaiarasan, Guru Somasundaram, Amala Paul, Prasanna, Kalaiyarasan, Krish, Dinesh and Natarajan Subramaniam as cast members. There are four episodes in this anthology series, each unrelated to the other but, sharing the common theme of ‘victimhood’. Each episode is 30 minutes long with subtitles available in English.
– SonyLIV’s Victim Review Does Not Contain Spoilers –
Victim: 4 Stories Unfold
Dhamman
A film by PA Ranjith, the first chapter of this anthology is a tale of compassion. The episode opens out in a pretty simplistic manner with Guna, a farmer and his daughter, Kema on the field. Guna is ploughing the field whereas Kema, who promised her father that she would be studying, is fooling around catching a fish. The sweaty sunny day is disrupted by the arrival of Sekar, a bully from the village Guna and Kema are a part of. Soon enough, the forehead sweat of hard work turns into that of panic and tension as one incident changes all three lives.
Dhamman is shot beautifully utilizing the barrenness as well as the greenery of farmed lands. It throws you off as you understand the theme of victimhood but, are quite unable to process the sides and shades of it. The changing perception of the world based on rumour rather than the reality of who is the culprit and who is the casualty is omnipresent throughout the story. Also, the disregard for people to show compassion and indulge in straight out violence echos loudly in the last moments of the film.
Mirrage
The second episode in the anthology series is a thriller by Rajesh.M titled Mirrage. We shift from rural India to the city of Bangalore. The protagonist of the film is Pavithra, who after landing in Bangalore goes to the ECR Heritage Villa, a deserted and isolated homestay in the outskirts of the city. On her arrival, Pavithra is taken aback by the spooky setting and the property manager further panics her by mentioning the occurrence of an incident that has left his guest house empty for the last six months.
Although he does not clarify what occurred in the villa, Pavithra is intrigued and goes on her own hunt to know what story the villa houses. As she discovers the truth, she is confronted with events that leave her devasted and scared.
Mirrage follows the same pattern of keeping us confused about who the victim in the story is until the end. What comes out eventually is a sad and painful tale that pleads for support and awareness concerning topics of violence, abuse and mental health. This chapter is probably the one that keeps you hooked and shocked until the final reveal and being only 22 minutes long, it is one ride for a horror-thriller fan to be on.
Kottai Pakku Vathalum..Mottai Maadi Sitharum!
A story by Chimbhudevan unveils in the third episode whose title loosely translates to Betel Nuts & Terrace Seer. Keeping the relevance and impact of COVID 19 on the nation alive, the third chapter is a comedy of errors in its own unique way. The episode opens with a shot of a man lying on his terrace with a pool of blood beside him. The audience is left wondering what has happened and we quickly jump to a flashback where the man named Kanda is revealed to be working for the newspaper and going through the job crisis everyone faced during the lockdown.
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He scours for some intelligent idea to keep his job afloat after 50% of the employees from his company have been sacked. Unwittingly, he finds it- he can interview a saint who has been alive for 400 years called Terrace Seer. He pitches the idea to his boss, who makes sure to remind him it is his last chance to secure his job as strange things start happening as he follows the archaic and eccentric way to meet this seer.
Kottai Pakku Vathalum Mottai Maadi Sitharum might just be the best episode in the series that links victimhood to greed, desperation and religion. It is filled with quirky animations and some brilliant climaxes that land the right people in their right places. A thoroughly enjoyable tale.
Confession
The last episode in the Victim series is by Venkat Prabhu, where the situations and circumstances surrounding one’s life make them both the offender as well as the offended. The story opens as we get to know a media company employee Anjena. After a tiring day at work, she unwinds at her home with some wine and weed but, the complications in her life don’t let her rest. Meanwhile, we also meet another character- a man living a double life in which he pretends to go to work every night to only end up being a hired sniper shot to take out people. As the two cross paths, one confession after the other gets out of the bag.
Confession is shot very aesthetically that grips you from the very start. Set against the silent shadows of Chennai at night, the narrative makes you grip the edge of your seats with panic as well as thrill. The ending has to be the UPS of the episode where we are left as the judge to decide if who we know is the victim or not.
Victim: Final Verdict
Victim is thoughtful compilations of stories that make you think and wonder about the reality you live in. The stories are relevant and connect to the real world and the kind of circumstances one can come across that push them into a corner or over the edge. The best stories in the lot are probably Mirrage and Kottai Pakku Vathalum..Mottai Maadi Sitharum! Although, all the episodes deserve a huge round of applause for what they have delivered.
All episodes of Victim: Who is Next? will be dropping on SonyLIV on August 5, 2022.
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This was rubbish. Don’t waste your time to watch this.