Anushka’s most awaited thriller ‘Nishabdham’ was released on Amazon Prime. Let’s see whether it has the mettle to stand up to its ‘suspense-thriller’ tag or not.
Plot
Frankly speaking, there is nothing new in the plot of ‘Nishabdham’. Sakshi(Anushka) is an orphan who is deaf and dumb, but blessed with great painting skills. Sakshi falls in love with Anthony(Madhavan) who is a cello player. They both go into a haunted house in search of a painting but Anthony gets murdered. Sakshi becomes the witness for the murder and the rest of the story revolves around ‘Who killed Anthony?’
Proceedings reveal that a couple were killed in that haunted house in a mysterious manner earlier. This plot closely resembles Simbu’s ‘Manmadha’. Police officer Maha (Anjali) unravels the secret behind the murder. Logically, there is no villain in this movie as the antagonist’s character has a strong motive behind committing murders. ‘Nishabdham’ is too clichéd as the plot is anything but formulaic.
Analysis
‘Nishabdham’ is an exercise in formulaic cinema making with absolutely no chills and thrills. It is nowhere a suspense-thriller as was touted. Its routine screenplay and uninteresting plotline tests your patience and director Hemant Madhukar seems to have not learnt anything from his previous disaster Vastadu Naa Raju. We don’t understand why an actress like Anushka did this film after ‘Baahubali’. Madhavan who is known for his out-of-the-box characters did a grave mistake by choosing this script and ‘Kill Bill’ fame Michael Madsen is absolutely wasted.
All it takes is just ten minutes since the movie starts to understand that there is nothing in it. Even though the introduction scene starts with a heavy build-up, the proceedings lose steam shortly. Anjali’s running commentary is nothing but interesting and the twist of Michael Madsen before the interval is the only saving grace of ‘Nishabdham’. We can understand that the makers want to infuse richness into this otherwise bland story by shooting in America.
Performances
Anushka’s deaf and dumb role has nothing to add to the story. Madhavan’s performance is better and Anjali’s ‘Maha’ has nothing to offer except flaunting her stylish persona. While Avasarala Srinivas’s role as Anjali’s husband has no relevance, the characters played by Subba Raju and Shalini Pandey are strictly mediocre. Hollywood star Michael Madsen has done justice to his character. Most of the scenes in ‘Nishabdham’ have no impact and don’t contribute anything to the story.
Cast
Anushka, Madhavan, Anjali, Subba Raju, Shalini Pandey, Avasarala Srinivas, Michael Madsen.
Screenplay: Kona Venkat
Music: Gopi Sundar
Cinematography: Shaneil Deo
Producers: TG Vishwa Prasad, Kona Venkat
Story & Direction: Hemant Madhukar
OTT platform: Amazon Prime
Banner: People Media Factory
Rating: 2/5
