'U-Turn' review: Better to skip this bumpy, potholed road altogether
U-Turn, starring Alaya F, Rajesh Sharma, and Manu Rishi Chadha, arrived on ZEE5 on Friday. Directed by Arif Khan, it's backed by Cult Movies, a branch of Balaji Telefilms. It is a remake of its 2016 namesake Kannada movie, produced and directed by Pawan Kumar. Despite a somewhat engaging premise, U-Turn suffers from middling execution and is tonsured clean of any engagement whatsoever.
Here's the plot of 'U-Turn'
The film follows Radhika Bakshi (Alaya), a young journalism intern who has dedicated herself to the task of uncovering the mystery of the numerous road accidents happening at Chandigarh's NTPC flyover. Ten people have already died, and Bakshi seeks to uncover the truth. However, supernatural elements soon creep in, and one day, police arrest her for alleged involvement in one such accidental death.
Neither the thrill works, nor the horror
U-Turn is supposedly a horror-thriller, but this marriage of two genres—that usually complement each other—falls flat on its face. The thrill is completely non-existent and the spooks—marinated in cliche—will not scare even a child. It becomes a labored watch just after 10 minutes and though U-Turn tries to intrigue us with its central mystery, it is completely devoid of any engagement or intrigue factor.
Rajesh Sharma is completely wasted in a supporting role
U-Turn's most surprising, shocking aspect is not the final reveal or the "thrill" that is present at its core, it is the way it wastes a seasoned artist like Rajesh Sharma, who has nothing to do here. A painful observation: This is the second film in recent times to slaughter his potential after Mrs. Undercover, which is also available on ZEE5. Unwanted coincidence.
The film is too eager to orchestrate our judgment
The first time we meet Bakshi and her mother, they talk about Bakshi's sexual partners, and her mother is slightly taken aback but not angry. This point is repeated later on, too, to show how progressive Bakshi is, and while there are no qualms about the topic, the film doesn't let us observe her and simply "tells" us what to feel about her.
Subplots fail to evoke any emotions or connection
There is a subplot inserted into the story early on (about the most recent death) and even though it has the scope of some emotional complexity, it fails to light up a connection because of how clumsily, awkwardly staged it is. You get a sense that people are, well, just acting, so this might not be deep enough to invest your emotions in.
Tedious, banal, stunted storytelling goes against 'U-Turn'
Apart from Alaya, Rishi Chadha gets the most meat, especially toward the climax, but when viewed holistically, it fails to leave an impact overall due to the banal and stunted storytelling of U-Turn. Another problem here is that a dwarf—who helps Bakshi in her investigation—is named Bauna (dwarf) and at a time when filmmakers are strongly trying to be inclusive, this is extremely offensive.
'U-Turn' has a final reveal but you wouldn't care
After 40 minutes or so, U-Turn gets stuck in a loop, much like the ghosts that inhabit its world—not sure which path to take on. The final reveal is a full-blown lecture that breaks the thriller down for the viewer. However, by then, it's already too late and we aren't invested enough in the film to witness how the final knots will be untied.
Summing up: You can skip this monotonous thriller
I haven't watched the original and hoped that the Hindi version will pack in a few surprises, but U-Turn teems with scenes that are supposed to demonstrate rage and are undercut by (failed) attempts at humor. The tonal discrepancies of the characters wear the movie down to the point of no return, making it excruciating to care for the final reveal. Verdict: 1/5 stars.
