DOCTOR (2021)

Critic No. 244

Director: Nelson Dilipkumar

Written by: Nelson Dilipkumar

Produced by: Sivakarthikeyan Productions, Vik Manmooth

Casts: Sivakarthikeyan, Vinay Rai, Priyanka Arul Mohan, Archana, Zaara Vineet, Yogi Babu, Milind Soman, Illavarasu, Deepa Shankar, Redin Kingsley, Arun Alexander

Music: Anirudh

Language: Tamil

Genre: Comedy, Thriller

SYNOPSIS: 

A military doctor, Varun helps his ex-fiancé, Padmini to find her niece who had been kidnapped before she is led to a fate by an underworld mafia.  

REVIEW:

We saw a distinctive style in Nelson’s vision of black comedy in Kolamavu Kokila (2018) and how he is able to convey a dark world with an expertly layered comedy. In Doctor, Nelson attempts the same in a much bigger scale and with much more characters. The most striking factor of the film other than the wicked comedy is how Nelson has completely changed the acting dynamics of Sivakarthikeyan’s acting style, making him play subtle (almost like a humanoid) throughout the film.

The film kicks off with Varun (Sivakarthikeyan) getting a call from his fiancée Padmini (Priyanka), who decides to call off their wedding after realising that he is not as emotionally normal as she wants him to be. As the wedding is called off during their meeting at Padmini’s home, a call comes from the school that Padmini’s niece has gone missing. As the family suspects that it might be a case of kidnap, Varun comes forward to help them and he decides to take the law in his own hands when he realises the police are not too serious about the case. Whether Varun succeeds in saving Chinnu by defeating the dangerous human trafficking gang led by Terry (Vinay), forms the crux of the story?

The film is outright funny from the start and sustains its momentum till the end. Nelson’s unique way of storytelling and his constant switches between tragedy and comedy definitely keeps the film afloat despite its 2 and a half hours of runtime. It might be quite unsettling to see Sivakarthikeyan acting in a subtle and expressionless role but soon that aspect develops to be an important trait that he uses to take on the human trafficking gang. The comical situations are spot on and the combo of Redin and Yogi Babu is a scream! Watch out for the train fight scene which is very well designed as a laugh riot. Archana, Deepa, Arun (late actor), Illavarasu complement the comedy well with their seasoned performances. Priyanka’s character does look a little flat (the typical bubbly girl but with a little more sophistication), but maintains a strong screen presence with a decent contribution to the comedy tracks as well. Varun and Padmini’s love track doesn’t stick as well but that doesn’t really matter to the main story.

Nelson uses his brand of comedy to kind of cover the flaws and the unbelievability of the script. Many plot points of the films feel far-fetched and conveniently written for the protagonist to solve the sloppy obstacles in a blink. I really liked how even till the climax, Nelson throws in the comical lines to lighten up a gory sequence. Vinay does a great job with his menacing delivery but again his character design is a sheer caricature especially during the last scene where he himself kills his henchmen one by one due to ‘ego’. Nelson also sprinkles a few nice moments in the climax where Varun tells Chinnu that he did all these for her because he likes her a lot. If only the film had cut off a few comedies and added one or two scenes to establish his bond with the family pre kidnapping, I felt that scene would have punched out gut. 

The Anirudh-Sivkarthigeyan combo has never disappointed us and Doctor is another film that will be remembered for long for its effective score and songs. It’s a relief that Nelson chose the chartbuster Chellama to be placed as the last portion of the film, almost conveying that the love track was his least priority in the film. Besides the believability factor, Doctor is a well made comedy thriller that does its primary job tremendously well - to make us laugh!

VERDICT:

‘Doctor’ is an entertaining black comedy that is packed with back to back rib tickling scenes that pull the audience into its eccentric world to invest in its far fetched tale. 

CELLULOID METER- 3.5/5: