Idiot Movie Review : A horror-comedy created in a world of 'Idiots'

Rambhala, the director of Idiot, assumes that a horror comedy is an easy genre that anyone could pull off, but he fails. Right from the beginning, the film is not sure of its stance, swaying between spoof and comedy of errors. This wavering attempt makes it a tedious watch for the viewers, affecting the flow of the film. Known for his quirky dialogues from his Lollu Sabha days, the director tries to overdo it, which is not just regressive in some places but also spoils the mood.

The film starts off like a period drama with a royal family being betrayed by their two subordinates, Sethupathi and Senathipathi. Within a few minutes, we get to see Chinnarasu (Shiva) and his family, who reside in a village called Veerapandiyan. Chinnarasu often brands his father Rasu Gounder (Anandaraj) an idiot, due to his ignorance. We then get introduced to Smitha (Nikki Galrani), who is a doctor and runs a psychiatric hospital.

Later, we learn that Chinnarasu and Smitha are the descendants of Sethupathi and Senathipathi. Unbelievable sequences bring them together and we see a reunion of ghosts at the Zameen's mansion. From there, a chaotic ride starts, which is neither funny nor even engaging.

We also get to see another character, Neelakandi (Akshara Gowda), who wants to take Smitha's life to revive her lover. Neelakandi's flashback gets added post interval, but does not add any value to the storyline. Will Neelakandi achieve her mission or not forms the rest of the story.

From the very beginning, Rambhala's horror comedy poses as a spoof, referring to scenes from films like Suriyavamsam, Ghilli, Endhiran, and even the teaser of Vikram. Though the idea seems okayish, most of the one-liners land badly and some of them are outdated, too. The scenes in which Shiva plays a mentally ill person are inventive for something that's written for a protagonist, but they don't help the film at large.

Despite all this, we wait for at least one good character who is sane and contributes for the better. This might be Rambhala's intention as well — to create a world of 'idiots'. But only disappointment surrounds us. At one point, even ghosts get objectified and insensitive jokes are cracked here and there.

Shiva, as usual, carries his character in a subtle way and tries his best to evoke laughter among the audience. But given the plot, he has no scope at all to perform. Nikki Galrani and Urvashi, who plays Anandaraj's wife, perform well and make the film somewhat watchable.

With respect to the background score, it is very typical and at times, it feels like a rehash of music from other popular films. Cinematography and editing add value to it, except for the continuity, which again, is out of sync right from the word go.

Overall, Idiot is a below average film that could have explored a new facet of this genre with better writing sensibilities. But again, we will have to wait until a proper film comes out of this genre.