When you have state of the art VFX team and a good cast at your disposal, what would you do if you are successful director who loves to experiment? Apparently, after watching Varna, sadly for the director though, it ends up as an exhaustive lesson of how not to ruin a movie.
We are introduced to two stories set in two different worlds; One here, right on the earth, and the other on some distant unknown planet. On Earth Ramya (Anushka) falls in love with Madhu (Arya), after some interesting camaraderie between the two, they accept each other. Meanwhile on the other planet, the son of the commander in chief of the king falls for Varna (Anushka). The rest of the plot is about the connection between the two worlds and the message the director wants to convey.
The movie builds up well till the interval. It kinds of puzzles you when the interval dawns up on you. The story like takes a perplexing twist and you will be left wondering what could transpire next. What happens after the Interval break, is another story altogether.
The director Selvaraghavan, has a peculiar message to convey. He uses a very different kind of a story to get his message through. However, the director gets lost mid-way, and the plot ends up as a bunch of twisted and incomprehensible loose ends. The more you indulge yourself, the more you get confused. By the time the final credits roll, you will have made neither head nor tail of what the director wants to tell you.
Varna, which starts off as an impressive fare slowly fizzles out and loses steam. The story is as baffling as its execution and one might wonder why the director did not work on bettering the story with the immense resources at his disposal. Both the actors have ample screen-time and they do put their best foot forward. Arya does well to portray both the characters and Anushka is more comfortable as Varna.
The highlight of this movie is the CGI and the background score. However, everything in between is so confusing that you will feel like an 8th grade kid trying to solve triple integrals. I feel bad for the effort of the director. There was plenty of effort put into making this movie and it sure was promising, but the attempt falls flat on its nose. I am going with 1/5 for Varna. It is tough to sit through and walk out satisfied. The first half might be watchable, but the second half totally ruins it.
Reviewed by: Sriram Madhav
