‘Chase’ review: A hardly engaging suspense thriller

An unoriginal screenplay, mediocre performances, and poor placement of songs make this Vilok Shetty film a lousy affair

Medical mafia has become a go-to concept for filmmakers.. Vilok Shetty has opted for a similar plot for his debut film Chase, adding elements of a suspense thriller to this familiar setting.

Vilok highlights the plight of the genuine workers in the medical field and also shows how money-minded medical professionals exploit helpless patients through unnecessary treatments that demand a hefty toll. His intent to speak about such a grave issue is indeed commendable.

The story revolves around a police officer, Nidhi (Radhika Narayan), who loses her vision in a freak accident, which also kills her friend. While she struggles to come to terms with personal and professional life, Nidhi is involved in another accident. She approaches the police for help. Here, we are introduced to Avinash (Avinash Diwakar), an investigating officer.

The narration gets an interesting turn when Nidhi takes a ride in a car of a dangerous person. As expected, it leads to many unexpected twists and turns that keep the audience engaged. What happens to Nidhi? Who is the culprit? What is the motive? These are the questions that need to be answered.

Though Vilok tries his best to build curiosity and also incorporate the current state of these social issues to the narrative, he loses grip over the narration. This is majorly due to the presence of romantic songs in the screenplay.

Chase’s foremost issue, however, is the lack of an original narrative. The film is an adaptation of Ahn Sang-hoon’s 2011 South Korean thriller Blind — a film that is currently being remade in Hindi under the same title and a film that was previously adapted in Tamil as Netrikann. Since both Blind and Netrikann are well-known titles among the audience, the reveals in the film seems to not have the desired impact.

It settles as a hardly engaging thriller that fails to hold the audience on the edge of their seats. Vilok has also tried his best to etch Nidhi’s character with broad strokes. Radhika Narayan, as a visually impaired cop, has invested all her efforts to keep the character afloat. But for the discerning audiences, her struggles in playing the characters become too apparent . Similar is the performance of Avinash Diwakar. The director has failed to make use of various characters he introduces to offer a tighter narrative. Karthik Aryan’s music offers little support to the narrative.