Probably, we are living in the era of peerless suspense thriller movies. In such an attempt, Mohana Krishna Indraganti has brought “V” into life. Over the past couple of years, Tollywood has made formidable progress in the thriller genre. With an exceptional star cast, Mohana Krishna tried to notch-up his direction game with this movie. With V, he took a gamble and tried to show that he can do more than make feel-good dramas. The vibe of a first-day-first-show was embarked in the hearts of almost every movie buff with some air of enthusiasm when it was announced that V will hit OTT. Due to the pandemic, the viewing experience was changed, but still many were geared up to grab a tub of popcorn and witness this cat-and-mouse chase the moment it was released. The pre-release hype that prevailed promised an intriguing action crime drama with a tweak of suspense. But is the film worth the hype that came with it?

Plot:
DCP Adithya (Sudheer Babu) is an unconventional cop who thrives to jump into action on the field. His life is truly perfect, especially so when the girl he desires, a wannabe crime novelist called Apoorva Ramanujan (Nivetha Thomas) seems to like him as much as he likes her and so does her family. A series of gruesome murders by an unknown, mysterious man (Nani), complete with notes addressing Adithya throw a wrench and challenge him to step up his game. What ensues is a chase that ends on a predictable note.

Direction/Screenplay:
Mohana Krishna Indraganti tried to highlight the Vishnu’s character too much and ended up losing a grip on the main plot. Though the direction was good, the screenplay failed to engage the audience. The movie was supposed to be a thriller with a couple of twists, but midway the story becomes too predictable. The main mistake of the director is that visually projecting the movie as a high intense crime thriller from the release of the teaser, which eventually led to a lot of expectations.

Cinematography:
PG Vinda’s camerawork turns out to be the saviour of the movie. Though the screenplay was predictable, his brilliant cinematography gave us a reason to stick to the seats till the end. Silhouette shots of Nani are wonderfully picturised, and Sudheer Babu looked stylish too. While colour-grading looked a bit odd in a few scenes but the overall look was good.

Acting:
Nani even gets some whistle-worthy moments and entries, despite being the antagonist of this tale. He is the only beacon of hope in a film that falls flat at times. Looks like Sudheer babu was underused by Mohana Krishna after a beautiful movie, like “Sammohanam”, where we get to see his sheer acting. Somewhere in the whole charade of testosterone display, the true potential of Aditi and Nivetha’s characters got lost. They have given their justifications to the characters that remain primitive, but at some point, the essence of their importance to the story is lost, and all they seem to do is being a catalyst in a tale that’s about two men fighting it out.

Music/Editing:
The songs by Amit Trivedi pop up at inopportune moments to try and set the mood (romantic for the most part) in a film that you just end up wishing was tighter. Even though the background score feels like we’ve heard before, Thaman did his part to hold the movie together. Marthand K Venkatesh’s editing was sleek and crisp. He did his best to keep the movie engaging.

Final Verdict:
The film that Mohana Krishna showed, despite its predictability, definitely has the potential to be more. Honestly, let alone the fan theories and expectations could have made a commendable and daunting movie. The movie is not unwatchable as it has its moments of exhilaration escorted by some amount of curiosity about what is next to come. Overall the movie turns out to be a one time watch.