Vanilla review: a well-made whoddunit with excellent plot twists

Film: Vanilla

Rating: Four stars.

Director: Jayatheertha

Cast: Avinash, Swati Konde, Pavana, Ravi Shankar Gowda

Jayatheertha is one of the underrated directors of Sandalwood. His debut Olave Mandara was a sleeper hit but Jayatheertha didn’t get his due for his subsequent quality films Tony and Beautiful Manasugalu. He is yet to enter the list of blockbuster directors of Kannada industry but with Vanilla he makes a big statement.

Vanilla, a taut thriller, relies heavily on coincidences. Many incidents occur by chance and one must believe the possibility of such accidents to make sense of the cinematic approach here. The film is a murder mystery set in Mangaluru. Two deaths occur on the same night and they set the police inspector (Ravi Shankar Gowda) on a hunt to nab the culprits.

Anagha (Swathi Konde) and Avinash (Avinash), the lead pair, find themselves in the story of one of the murders that takes place on a bridge above a railway track. The other killing, which takes place in a house, is of a college lecturer. There is a larger picture which is shown in the beginning of the film. We see many men addicted to vanilla across the state and the harmful effects of the abuse are shown. Does the flavour play a key role in the plot? Who is out to commit double murder on a rainy night? Will the lead pair find a way out of the problem?

Despite the lead actor being the son of the film’s producer, Jayatheertha hasn’t forced needless action sequences to elevate him to a star status. In fact, he does away with the usual masala film tropes like comedy tracks and misplaced songs. Instead, Vanilla has gripping sequences, fine and believable twists. The film, thankfully doesn’t suffer from the curse of second half. In fact, the narration gets better post interval as the dots are joined. However, the technique of quick-cut transitions, which is maintained throughout, doesn’t allow us to absorb the well constructed scenes and feel for the characters. Perhaps, the editor could have allowed some scenes to sink in.

Avinash makes an assured debut. Ravi Shankar Gowda gives a measured performance. Though not as polished as the popular Tamil thrillers of last year Dhuruvangal Pathinaaru and Mahanagaram, Vanilla can be Sandalwood’s answer to such intelligent thrillers. The reception by the Kannada audience will determine whether filmmakers like Jayatheertha continue to churn out more such interesting stories. The litmus test, is once again, for the audience.

Vivek MV