Pencil Review
Director: Mani Nagaraj
Cast: GV Prakash Kumar, Sri Divya
High school thrillers is a rare genre in Tamil cinema but it has been a successful one in Hollywood.
Shiva(GV Prakash) is a topper in 12th standard at an upmarket school. He is at loggerheads with the rich spoilt brat Nithin (Shariq Haasan), son of top film star. Nithin is mysteriously found dead and Shiva who is the prime suspect has to prove his innocence. Along with Maya (Sri Divya) who is in love with Shiva, find ways to find the killer.
As a concept, Pencil looks good on paper and the first half is brilliantly executed. The engaging screenplay and character establishment is very interesting but in the second half, the murder mystery where the students take charge of investigation looks juvenile and trusted.
GV Prakash looks every bit a school student and performance wise he has tried his best considering that it is actually his first film which got a delayed release. Sri Divya is wooden and clearly a miscast. The film belongs to Shariq Haasan, and he completely steals the show with his screen presence, body language and attitude.
Debutante director Mani Nagaraj is heavily inspired from the Korean thriller, 4th Period Mystery but unlike the original, Pencil is slow in the second half and the prolonged climax with a message tests your patience.
Songs by GV Prakash are good and two among them are shot aesthetically. Cinematography by Gopi Amarnath is eye-catching with stunning visuals whereas the editing could have been better. The film needs urgent trimming.
