Release date : May 13th, 2016
Rating : 3/5
Director : Mani Nagaraj
Producer : S. P. Ragavesh
Music Director : G. V. Prakash Kumar
Starring : G. V. Prakash Kumar, Sri Divya
Music director turned actor, G V Prakash is back with an engaging murder
mystery titled Pencil. Starring Telugu girl Sri Divya, this film has
hit the screens today. Let’s see how this film turns out to be.
Story:-
Shiva(G V Prakash) is a brilliant 12th standard student who is
secretly in love with his class mate Maaya(Sri Divya). As time passes
by, a star hero’s son, Nithin(Shariq Hassan) joins the school and
becomes a huge head ache for all the girls in the school and also to the
teachers who manage him.
His notorious activities get to a point where everyone starts hating
him big time. Twist in the tale arises when Nithin suddenly gets
murdered in the school premises and both Shiva and Sri Divya stumble
upon his dead body.
Left with no choice, they decide to go behind the motive of this
murder. Rest of the story is as to how do they investigate the mystery
and find out who the actual murderer is.
Plus Points:-
Tamil film makers are known to take a very small point and weave a
story around it. Same is the case with Pencil too. The way the murder
mystery has been set up in a school premises is quite novel and
interesting. Also, the way suspense factor is maintained till the end is
good.
Screenplay is a huge plus as the makers have induced very good twists
at regular intervals. G V Prakash looks and suits his role perfectly
and does his job well. But it is the Telugu girl Sri Divya who takes
things in her hands and delivers a wonderful performance.
Shariq Hassan, who plays the role of a bad student resembles
Raghuvaran and gives a menacing performance. All the investigative
scenes and the way they are revealed is very good. Climax of the film
gripping and the twist that is revealed through a social message is just
wonderful.
Minus Points:-
There are some logical errors in the movie. As the entire murder
mystery is happening in the school, no one knows about the so called
murder and only the lead pair continue to nab the culprit. Some logics
like this go begging big time.
Songs cause a hindrance to the plot and disturb the flow of the film
big time. The way Sri Divya’s character is narrated is a bit
questionable. After hating the hero so much initially, she becomes close
to him in just a scene and takes the deadly task of nabbing the
murderer, this could have been shown a bit convincingly.
Technical Aspects:-
Camera work is decent and presents the film well. Art department
could have done a better job as very less students are showcased in a
huge school which looks weird in some scenes. Music is below average but
the background score is nice. As said earlier, screenplay is the heart
and soul of the film as it holds interesting moments together.
Coming to the director Mani Nagraj, he has set the Korean remake
supremely well. The way he has made students the main protagonists and
narrated the film with good thrills and held on to the suspense is
appreciable.
Verdict:-
On the whole, Pencil is a decent murder mystery with an interesting
premise and engaging screenplay. The suspense factor and second half are
huge assets. If you are done watching all the important releases from
last week, and are looking at something different, do check out ‘Pencil’
which ends up as a time pass thriller.
Rating : 3/5
