‘Anbirkiniyal’ film review: A chilling, efficient remake of ‘Helen’

Anbirkiniyal (Keerthi Pandian) is the chirpiest individual on her road. Each morning, she’s buzzing about; chatting merrily with employees, pulling the leg of a grandmother who lives close by and chiding her father for secretly taking a smoke.

She works in a mall, and is chirpy there as properly: each time a buyer walks up for an order, Anbirkiniyal greets them with a smile.

However the daughter-father duo aren’t simply basking in happiness. They’ve monetary commitments, and to make sure she takes issues in her personal palms, Anbiriniyal plans a future overseas. However sooner or later, when she’s on the mall, one thing occurs, and life turns topsy turvy.

This what-happens-in-one-night sort of story has quite a lot of nail-biting moments to supply, and Anbirikiniyal takes a leaf out of its unique (Malayalam movie Helen, obtainable on Amazon Prime) to showcase that. It not solely retains a lot of the chills that the unique provided, however provides a touch of drama too.

Casting is without doubt one of the greatest highlights of the movie; Keerthy and Arun Pandian handle to showcase a loveable father-daughter on the large display screen (Arun is Keerthy’s father for actual). This not solely works within the cutesy sequences, but in addition within the few emotional scenes within the first half.

As soon as Anbirikiniyal will get entangled in an ordeal within the second half, issues get edgier. Survivor dramas may be tough to take a seat by way of, due to the only real concentrate on one individual – however this Tamil providing, very similar to its Malayalam unique, cuts cleverly to the occasions surrounding the ordeal to maintain curiosity ranges excessive.

If Anna Ben showcased desperation in a tough state of affairs aplenty in Helen, Keerthi exhibits grit and provides her greatest. Whereas it’s heartening to see Arun Pandian play father, a little bit extra effort within the emotional sequences and higher lip-sync would have elevated the movie.

Director Gokul provides a little bit further drama in Anbirkiniyal, offering some sort of reduction from the chills that we expertise. There’s some messaging ultimately, however even that appears to gel properly. Nonetheless, including a caste angle to the proceedings stands out like a sore thumb.

A remake can go fallacious on many counts, however Anbirkiniyal will get quite a lot of issues proper to make for some fulfilling leisure on the large display screen.