Cast: Sumanth, Jagapathi Babu, Srinivas Avasarala, Trinadh Varma, Ravi Varma, Shelly N Kumar, Neha Pathan, Pandit Gautam
Crew:
Written and Directed by Rajesh Karna
Cinematography by Veda Vyas Gottipati
Music by Sinjith Yerramilli
Edited by Anil Kumar P
Produced by Harish Kohirkar
Sumanth has become very selective, focusing on strong stories. His latest outing is the suspense crime thriller, Newton's 3rd Law, presented by ETV Win. Promising a unique karma-based concept matching the famous physics principle, the film hit theaters today. Let's discuss how it fares.
Plot:
David (Srinivas Avasarala) receives a mysterious book titled "Newton's 3rd Law." Reading it, he realizes it mirrors real events from 1999: a woman's fatal accident and a young man named Vinay's alleged suicide. Cop Vasudev (Sumanth) investigates and discovers Vinay was actually murdered. His probe uncovers dark secrets involving Vinay's parents, his missing friend, and the dangerous criminal Stephen Mercury (Jagapathi Babu). How these crimes connect forms the rest of the story.
Analysis:
Sumanth delivers a measured and subtle performance as Cop Vasudev, carrying the serious tone of the film with ease. Jagapathi Babu, though in a limited cameo as Stephen Mercury, leaves a strong impact with his screen presence. Srinivas Avasarala is neat in his role as the reader unraveling the mystery. Supporting actors like Trinadh Varma and Shelly N Kumar also do justice to their crucial roles, adding necessary depth to the narrative.
Director Rajesh Karna brings an interesting core concept to the table by linking the physics law of action and reaction to the philosophical idea of human karma. The storytelling device of using a mysterious book that mirrors real-life crimes adds a nice thrilling layer to the plot. This creative approach shows promise and attempts to set the film apart from regular police procedurals.
However, the execution falters mainly during the initial portions. The first half is quite slow-paced, heavily relying on lengthy interrogation scenes that drag the narrative down. While the makers try to build tension and set up a complex web of characters, the screenplay lacks a tight grip, making it a bit tedious for the audience to stay fully invested during these early stages.
The movie finally picks up the required momentum in the second half. Once the backstories of the victims and the main antagonist start to unfold, the actual thrill kicks in. The final twists are handled well and manage to connect all the scattered dots convincingly. Despite the earlier pacing issues, the climax delivers a satisfying payoff that justifies the karma theme.
Positives:
Sumanth's subtle performance
Karma-based core concept
Second-half twists
Negatives:
Slow-paced narration
Dragged investigation scenes in first half
Some predictable moments
Bottomline:
A decent crime thriller that tests patience for long time.
Rating: 2.5/5
Disclaimer: The views/opinions expressed in this review are personal views/opinions shared by the writer and organisation does not hold a liability to them. Viewers' discretion is advised before reacting to them.
