Evaru – Movie Review

What’s it about?
The story is set in a hill station Coonoor. Sameera (Regina Cassandra), the wife of a businessman, is accused of murdering her friend Ashok (Naveen Chandra) with whom she’s having a relationship. A corrupt police officer Vikram Vasudev (Adivi Sesh) is designated to help her in this case. She tells him that she shot at Ashok with a gun in her defense when Ashok attempted to rape her. As Vikram begins questioning, her web of lies gets exposed. Then there is an unrelated missing case that comes into the scene. Plot thickens.
 
Analysis
 
While ‘Evaru’ (Who) begins with a murder case, it is like a starter before a buffet of twists and turns are served. It is pretty evident that it was Regina who killed her lover in the initial scenes but the story is not about this murder. The real story unfolds in a series of flashbacks. The drama begins when Regina recounts the events leading up to Naveen Chandra’s death. Slowly the drama moves back to the disappearance of an old man a year ago. How are these two incidents are interlinked is disclosed slowly by putting the audiences on a guessing game till the end. 
 
Based on Spanish drama Oriol Paulo’s ‘The Invisible Guest’, Adivi Sesh starrer ‘Evaru’ is an engaging thriller with many twists and turns. The Spanish film was recently remade in Hindi as ‘Badla’. But in the Telugu version, new director Venky Ramji has changed some characters, the motives, and also reversed the gender of the main characters. However, the setting has remained the same – a tourist place, murder at a resort, and a case of a missing person. Despite some alterations, ‘Evaru’ has faithfully followed the structure and narrative style of the original Spanish movie. 
 
The beauty and thrilling element of the original movie lies in its climax twist. ‘Evaru’ has gone for a completely different twist from the original, which was unnecessary, though it still is convincing enough here. 
 
‘Evaru’ begins on a jarring note but it picks up the momentum later and holds the interest as it progresses. The second half has worked out well. 

On the downside, some of the changes that are done to the original movie are not convincing. Also repeating the rape attempt scene is off-putting. 
 
Regina as Sameera is terrific. The film mainly revolves around her and she has displayed her best talents. Her role has many shades and she is quite convincing with her performance. Adivi Sesh has got an interesting role. His is not just another investigative officer’s role. There is another side and he has shown the variance. Naveen Chandra as Regina’s lover has done justice. Murali Sharma, Pavitra Lokesh are okay.
 
The film has good technical values. Cinematography is rich. The hill resort locations shot in Kodaikanal are beautiful. Editing is neat. Background music score by Sricharan Pakala is a huge asset. New director Venky Ramji has made a decent debut in remaking the thriller. 
 
Bottom-line: ‘Evaru’ is a fairly gripping thriller with the engaging second half. The official remake of Spanish drama ‘The Invisible Guest’, this Adivi Sesh and Regina starrer holds the interest despite some issues. If you have not seen the original, you may find it quite an interesting thriller, for others it evokes mixed feelings. Overall, ‘Evaru’ makes an engaging watch.