Vijay Antony is known for doing different genres of entertainers. He recently scored a hit with Bichagadu 2 and is now coming with an interesting thriller Kolai which is releasing in Telugu as Hatya. The film directed by Balaji K Kumar is releasing on 21 July 2023 and let us find out whether Hatya surprised viewers or not. The film's OTT partner is yet to be finalised and streaming will be after the end of its theatrical run.
Hatya's story is all about a rookie cop trying to solve the mysterious death of a top model. New recruit Sandhya Mohan Raj (Ritika Singh) is bestowed with the task of solving the mysterious death of the top model Laila (Meenakshi Chaudhary). She is asked to seek the advice of her reluctant mentor and investigative officer Vijay (Vijay Antony). Why Vijay is reluctant, what is the mystery behind Laila's death, how are her fiance Satish( Siddhartha Shankar), Judge Rekha (Radhika Sarathkumar), talent searcher Aditya Kaushik (Murli Sharma), fashion designer Arjun Vasudev (Arjun Chidambaram), Babloo(Kishore Kumar), Cop Mansoor Ali Khan (John Vijay), Vinod (Samkit Bohra) are connected to it form the rest of the proceedings.
Vijay Antony did well in his role. His task is made easier as the role of the investigative officer should be serious and he came with the apt expressions. Vijay Antony sported a new grey look and it definitely thrill all his fans and movie lovers. His body language and screen presence are good.
Ritka Singh played the role of a rookie cop and she had a good screen presence. However, she just passed through the motions as the entire investigation is handled by Vijay Antony. Meenakshi Chaudhary looked good in the role of the model. She looked slim and gorgeous and showed good emotions and expressions highlighting the trauma of a troubled celebrity.
Murali Sharma is good in his role while Radhika Sarathkumar and John Vijay appeared in small roles. Siddhartha Shankar, Arjun Chidambaram, and Kishore Kumar performed their roles accordingly.
Hatya's story readied by Balaji Kumar is inspired by the famous Dorothy King murder case that happened in 1923. Many books, films, and novels came on this murder which remained unsolved and each one came with a different perspective. Balaji Kumar tried to create a thriller drawing inspiration from it. Right from the start till the finish, one can see his sincerity and passion in filmmaking.
The investigation scenes are shown in a natural and realistic manner with the characters not going over the top. He got exact performances from the actors and ensured that they do not overact. The interval twist is good and the second half goes in a similar manner. He maintained a good and intense screenplay and the direction is neat.
However, just like in all thrillers and murder mysteries, the protagonist's family is highlighted and this slowed the pace of the film. A few scenes ended up confusing the viewers. The story wouldn't have been affected in any manner if those scenes had been done away with. Climax is ok but one may get confused at times. Overall, Hatya turns out to be an interesting investigative drama. Balaji Kumar should be commended for not running after commercial elements and sticking to the story and investigation scenes.
Cinematographer Siva Kumar Vijayan with his cinematography gave a new feel to the viewers. He used interesting colors and toned it to increase the curiosity among movie lovers. Girishh Gopalakrishnan's background music elevated the scenes. He did not overdo it but brought value to the film by blending it perfectly with the narration. Selva's editing could have been better as there are many scenes that slowed the pace of the film. Dialogues are ok and production values are fine.
Altogether, Hatya is a decent murder mystery. Balaji Kumar showed Vijay Antony in a different manner and emerged successful highlighting the investigation process of the murder mystery of a model in a convincing manner. While the story is inspired by real-life happenings, he came up with a good screenplay and direction. Regular Hollywood movie lovers can easily guess where the investigation is heading but others will like the twists and turns. With a little bit of reworking the script and doing away with the drags, Hatya would have reached new heights. Considering all these elements, Cinejosh goes with a 2 Rating for Hatya.