Richie Review
Director : Gautham Ramachandran
Star Cast : Nivin Pauly,Natarajan Subramaniam,Shraddha Srinath
Richie, the neo-noir crime drama begins with a brief ancient story on friendship, betrayal and greed (in graphics). The film's basic plot deals with these three factors and since the story line is quite plain and the director opts for a non-linear screenplay to engage the audience.
To give credit where it’s due director Gautham Ramachandran delivers on both style and content. A remake of 2014 Kannada film Ulidavaru Kandanthethe, Richie works due to riveting performances and thrilling plot dynamics.
A journalist (Shraddha Srinath) is writing an article on a popular murder in Manapad. Different people say different stories about the murder and the unpredictable evil nature of the protagonist Richie (Nivin Pauly). But slowly, we come to know about him- his friendship, loyalty and fearless nature.The backdrop of Richie is set in Manapad with characters full of life and nativity. The people in Manapad are sketched with many shades and a lot of conflicts.
It's a gutsy move by the makers to have Nivin Pauly only for fifteen minutes in the first half. However, the second half of the film connects all the dots and end up with unexpected series of events.
Nivin Pauly's Tamil is pretty decent and his screen presence and swag is brilliant. The rest of the cast are just okay. Gorgeously shot, crisply edited, and handsomely mounted, Richie is tinged with humor and heightened by music. Technically, Richie is exceptional with an exemplary cinematography by Pandikumar and stunning score by Ananeesh.
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Richie is definitely a unique and fresh attempt in Tamil cinema, kudos to the director and actor for pushing the boundaries. On the downside, the film is tad indulgent; no wonder it feels stretched in parts, dragging where it should have moved briskly.
On the whole, Like heady wine, it delivers a welcome kick.
