MOVIE: Penguin
DIRECTOR: Eashyar Karthic
PRODUCERS: Karthik Subbaraj, Karthekeyan Santhanam, Sudhan Sundaram, Jayaram
PRODUCTION HOUSE: Stone Bench Films, Passion Studios
CINEMATOGRAPHY: Kharthik Palani
DISTRIBUTOR: Prime Video
MUSIC: Santosh Narayan
CAST: Keerthy Suresh, Linga, Madhampatti Rangaraj, Harini Rameshkrishnan, Master Advaith
Writer: Eashyar Karthic
Release Date: 19th June, 2020
Rating: 3/5
Synopsys: Penguin is the story of a mother whose child goes missing and who keeps the hope that one day she would definitely find him.
Review: Rhythm(Keerthy Suresh), a pregnant lady carries the guilt of losing her son Ajay(Umar) from her first marriage with Raghu(Linga) 6 years ago. Everyone including the police believes Ajay to be dead but Rhythm believes that some day she will find her son. She keeps going back to the lake where her son Ajay got lost. She always imagines and dreams about the kidnapper to be in the Charlie Chaplin disguise and with an umbrella. One day having found a clue about the kidnapper, she goes to the lake and finds Ajay(Master Advaith) who is grown up a little. She then tries her best to make him become normal as he always keeps silent and acts only when commanded. She finds out that the kidnapper is still stalking Ajay and she tries to find out the identity of the kidnapper. Rhythm’s husband Gautham(Madapatty Rangaraj) helps Rhythm and takes Ajay to a psychiatrist who later turns out as another psycho killer. The rest of the story is how Rhythm finds out who the real kidnapper is and how she makes Ajay normal.
The movie was shot at Kodaikanal which has beautiful landscapes and surroundings. The movie, though has a strong story, lacks a proper narration. The director failed to capture the entire acting potential of Keerthy Suresh who has proven herself as a very fine actress in the industry. Her character Rhythm is shown as someone very smart and intelligent who becomes silent and looks depressive after she loses her son. The emotional scenes between the mother and son are less convincing.
Penguin is a psychological thriller with twists and turns which keep the audience guessing who the real kidnapper is. Climax can be a little more interesting. The way they show the person in Charlie Chaplin disguise with an umbrella gives an eerie feeling. The way body parts and blood shown disturbs any weak hearted person. The story, nevertheless maintains suspense till the end. At a point the audience suspect one of the husbands to be kidnapper.
Editing, music and cinematography are up to the mark. The Director looked clueless and seemed confused whether to focus more on the mother-son sentiment or the suspense part of the story. Over all this movie is a Crime thriller shot at a beautiful location with an interesting plot with lot many twists which keeps the audience guessing.
