BOTTOM LINE
The dubbing ruins.
RUN TIME
124 mins.
OUR RATING
What is “Traffic” about?
Traffic is a film in Vedam style where four different sets of people lives are interconnected after an accident happens at traffic. It all finally boils down to a fast paced thrilling ride literally.
How is Sarath Kumar’s performance?
Sarath Kumar plays the role of a commissioner who under takes an impossible mission. There is nothing much here to act but his presence adds weight to the character.
What about Shahid Khader’s direction?
Direction by Shaheed Khader is neat. He neatly executes the story that has been taken from a Malayalam original. The problem here with the Telugu version is that thanks to the poor dubbing a lot is lost in terms of the emotional connect with the film and a large portion of the first half is devoted to that aspect. There is nothing that he could do in this case except to go for a remake in Telugu as well but that wasn’t the case which is a loss for a movie lover.
Other artists performance?
The film has multiple actors and all have important parts to play. Radhika as the doted mother is fine and shines in the one confrontation scene with Prakash Raj. Meanwhile the character of Prakash Raj playing a superstar is a bit hard for Telugu audience to accept and hence despite a competent performance it fails to get the desired result. Prasanna has a decent role that gets an interesting twist in second half. Cheran too gets an important role that is central to the proceeding and it’s a character that one connects to without any dubbing problems. Among female protagonists Parvathi as a lover in grief is well done. There are other artists too like Jayaprakash, Inniya, Mallika etc who have small roles but are still important to the progress of the film. It’s a well cast ensemble film.
How is Music, Songs and other departments?
Music by Mejo Joseph is below part and has no impact at all. The background score is alright in parts but it’s the screenplay that actually provides the thrill more than the background score. Editing is a mixed bag. Its super crisp in parts but at the same time is pretty poor too. Cinematography is decent and the small stunts sequences involving car in okay.
Highlights?
Story.
Screenplay.
Car on the roads segment.
Drawbacks?
Lack of nativity .
Extremely slow beginning .
What about the box office performance of the film?
The film had a decent opening in urban centers thanks to the promotions involving Suriya and the opening day being Valentine’s Day. It needs strong word of mouth to sustain which looks unlikely because of the nativity issue and the multiplex friendly narration.
Did I enjoy it?
Yes.
Will you recommend it?
Yes, with apprehensions.
OUR RATING
Reviewed by Siddhartha
