Tamil cinema rarely gets into the monster and vampire territory but director Mariyappan Chinna takes this unexplored premise and weaves a story around this in Immortal. Starring actor-music director GV Prakash Kumar and Kayadu Lohar, the movie combines fantasy, horror, romance and survival thriller elements. How far does it succeed?
The movie begins with scenes from thousands of years ago where we go to a tribal village and find a young couple anxiously waiting for the birth of their child. But once the child is born, the mother screams in horror and tells her husband that the child must die. Cut to present-day Chennai, we meet a young man named Magi (GV Prakash Kumar) who works in his uncle’s printing press and lives in a downtrodden room that he needs to vacate urgently. Magi, who’s obviously attracted to young girls given his age, starts frantically searching for a room to rent for Rs 5000 but to no luck. He gives all hope when he suddenly gets a call from a young woman who says she has a room available and invites him to see it. What’s the catch?
There is none except that he has to share the apartment with her! An over-excited Magi rushes to this new home and can’t believe that this luxurious place just fell into his lap. He begins his life as a roommate to eccentric Sindhu (Kayadu Lohar), and before long, what initially appears to be an attraction starts looking sinister. Sindhu has a deadly secret and a frightened Magi realises he’s trapped in this house with her. What is that secret and how does Magi manage to escape his situation?
Mariyappan Chinna deserves some credit for attempting something different in Tamil cinema. He digs into mythology to establish the creature’s raison d’etre and tries to introduce it in a mysterious way rather than just through jump scares.
The first half of the film establishes the main characters and the romantic angle between Magi and Sindhu, while the second half shifts to the revelation and the survival thriller angle. In the early portions of the film, the director makes Kayadu Lohar look, act and dress very sensuously and further focuses on her lips and legs – this could have been avoided as it has no direct connection to the story itself. This just reduces Sindhu, an intriguing character, to her sensuality rather than the core mysterious element of the film.
Unfortunately, the writing and screenplay are not as strong as the film’s intriguing premise and that proves to be its Achilles heel. The screenplay, which meanders in parts, could have delved deeper into the mythological aspect for one and the emotional stakes could have been stronger as well. There were some sparks in the film but the flawed screenplay doesn’t have you invested either. For instance, we don’t understand why Sindhu is fascinated with Magi or why their romance, which is key, is treated very superficially. When the story turns sinister, we don’t feel the emotional impact nor are we invested in Magi’s survival.
A confusing aspect and weak link of the film is that it combines the idea of a monster and vampire and since the creature doesn’t fit into either category, it doesn’t have proper characteristics of either. For instance, vampires tend to have the characteristics of being immortal, feeding off human blood and avoiding sunlight at all cost. They also tend to be attractive and threatening at the same time and when a vampire bites someone, they turn into one as well. Now, the director has used some of these aspects in his film but how the vampire is also a monster is a baffling mystery. We don’t understand what makes this creature and its history particularly distinctive. For instance, the monster likes Magi and wants to procreate with him but the why is unexplained.
GV Prakash Kumar is one of the film’s strengths and he’s been able to effectively convey his fear and vulnerability in an understated way. His approach works because he is an ordinary man caught in bizarre circumstances. Kayadu Kohar possibly had the tougher role since she has to be pretty and charming yet threatening and evil – all at the same time in a few scenes as well. She manages to pull it off and given how her role is key in this film, she holds her own.
Music director Sam CS has elevated the film with his BGM which is important in such thrillers as it adds the required tension and build-up to scenes. The visual effects in Immortal are critical because of the monster element and the team has done a decent job. Since most of the film is shot in and around the apartment where Magi and Sindhu live, the cinematography and production design had to ensure that scenes don’t get monotonous and they’ve tried to use different spaces in the apartment for various scenes to try to ensure this. But there is no strong visual identity to the film per se.
Immortal is an experiment that works in parts thanks to GV Prakash and Kayadu Lohar holding it together.Â
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