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Vishal's recent films haven't had a great run and he is under pressure to reinvent himself and work his way back into the reckoning.
He probably put faith in Thiru of 'Theeratha Vilayattu Pillai'-fame to pull himself out of the rut and has probably got himself on the road to redemption with Samar.
Samar is on similar lines but there is a difference too. It is not only an action-oriented one but also one with the suspense element attached to it, which makes it a good watch, incidentally.
Vishal, known for his fast-paced stunt scenes, is seen doing it in Sama' too but the director managing to hold the audience's interest with twists and turns is the USP of the film. Trisha, looks pretty and does what is expected of her while Sunaina has nothing much to do.
The story goes like this: Sakthi (Vishal) is a happy-go-lucky young man, who enjoys trekking and guides people around in Ooty and on occasions tries to stop those involved in smuggling of sandalwood in the woods. The initial scenes show him break up with Rupa (Sunaina), who thinks he isn't 'fit enough to love girls.' Even as he continues to think as to what could have been with regard to his love life, there is a surprise in store. He gets a letter from his 'fiancee', who is in Bangkok, asking him to join her.
At the airport, he meets Trisha and they develop a rather good friendship. However on landing in Thailand, things don't go as per plans. His 'fiancee' never turns up and he meets a Tamil-speaking police officer (Sampath) who helps him. Then comes the big turnaround, he is mistaken for a business tycoon of the same name and looks and finds himself a confused man as there is even an attempt to finish him off.
To his credit, Vishal has essayed his role pretty well and gets it right in scenes when he is caught in a fix after being made to run pillar-to-post as he battles to shrug off the identity issue.
Trisha has a meaty role while Jayaprakash is impressive as the Embassy official while the baddies (Manoj Bajpai and J D Chakravarthy) could have had a more profound impact given their stature.
Yuvan Shankar Raja's songs don't rise above the ordinary while the background score by Dharan matches the mood of the movie - that of intrigue and is one of the highlights of Samar.
Thiru needs a pat for his handling of the story and script and should feel happy that he has come up with fast-paced film that will suit Vishal's image. On the flip side, the film is dragging in parts, and also the scenes sound familiar.
Samar - Game of fate
