Movie Review: U-Turn U-TURN rests on Alaya F's fine performance and some thrilling moments

U-TURN is the story of a journalist who gets into trouble while chasing a story. Radhika Bakshi (Alaya F) is a journalist based in Chandigarh and works as an intern for The Indie Times. She has been working on a story about the NTPC Flyover. She has learned that on a regular basis, motorists move the divider blocks on this flyover, that partition the road, just to take a quick U-turn and thereby avoid the traffic. However, once they take the U-turn, they don’t move the blocks back and leave it randomly on the road, leading to several accidents. Radhika befriends a homeless man on the bridge who notes down the numbers of all those who violate this rule and hands it to the former. One day, she finds out that a government official Deepak Kumar (Pankaj Jha) illegally makes the U-turn without putting the divider blocks back in place. Radhika finds out his name and address through a contact in the RTO and decides to meet him and get his version. She rings the bell but he doesn’t answer. The next day, Deepak’s family discovers that he’s no more. Radhika is picked up by the police as she was the last person who paid him a visit. Radhika explains to the cops about her intention and the NTPC Flyover story that she has been working on. Inspector Arjun Sinha (Priyanshu Painyuli) decides to let her go when he sees her material. However, while investigating, he realizes that all the motorists, who broke the flyover and who are mentioned in Radhika’s diary, are dead! Arjun also finds out that Radhika is deeply committed to bringing the culprits to book as she lost her brother Raghav (Dev Dembla) in a road accident, caused by an irresponsible motorist. What happens next forms the rest of the film.

U-TURN is based on the 2016 Kannada film of the same name. Pawan Kumar's original story is thrilling and also subtly informs viewers about the dangers of breaking traffic laws. Parvez Sheikh and Radhika Anand's screenplay is fine till a certain point but the writing, after a point, is too unconvincing and defies logic. Radhika Anand's dialogues are well-worded.

Arif Khan's direction is decent. He keeps the duration in check and has handled some scenes deftly like Radhika’s police interrogation, the drama at the lawyer’s house or the twin deaths in the police lockup.

But it’s the second half where the film falls. The scenes of Radhika getting spooked are clichéd and this is where the film drags. The climax is unpredictable and different from the one in the original version. However, it lacks logic and will leave audiences bewildered. The makers should have attempted to tie the loose ends for a better impact.

Sajna | U-Turn | Alaya F & Priyanshu Painyuli

Speaking of performances, Alaya F is getting better with each film. She delivers a confident and striking performance as the leading lady and carries the film firmly on her shoulders. Priyanshu Painyuli is dependable. Ashim Gulati (Aditya Iyer) looks dashing and is decent in a small role. Manurishi Chadha (Inderjeet Singh Dhillon) has a crucial role and does very well. Rajesh Sharma (H S P Saxena) lends able support. Shreedhar Dubey (Surinder Kumar Yadav; cop) is memorable. The same goes for Tariq Mir (Hariya; midget), Pankaj Jha and Priyanka Arya (Divya; Radhika's colleague). Ashu Sharma (Siddhant Sachdeva; lawyer) is fair. Dev Dembla is good in a cameo. Grusha Kapoor (Radhika's mother), Tasveer Kamil (Sunita Singh) Sahil Takhi (Sodhi; cop) and Surinder Arora (Harry; RTO official) don’ get much scope.

U-TURN is more or less a song-less film. The sole track is played in the end credits and it's forgettable. Ketan Sodha's background score adds to the thrill factor. Anubhav Bansal's cinematography is appropriate. Somanwita Bhattacharya and Protiqe Mojoomdar's production design is realistic. Sanam Ratansi's costumes (for Alaya F) are appealing. Bhumi Shah's costumes for the rest of the actors are fine. Moses Fernandes' action is thrilling. Rohit Ajit Makwana's editing is overall captivating but the film drops in the middle of the second half.

On the whole, U-TURN rests on Alaya F’s fine performance and some thrilling moments. However, the hard-to-digest developments in the climax will leave viewers disappointed big time.

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