The more we hear the stories of people in Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Jharkhand, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana about how the chemical wastes are causing for physical deformations and genetic disorders, more we hate ourselves for electing people who are politically and fundamentally selfish. But when we end up in a situation where we commit a crime and try everything in our power to cover it up rather than sympathizing and feeling remorse. In a nutshell, we can describe Mercury as a movie about basic human selfishness and greed that unknowingly affects us.
Plot : Five old school students of a town that has been highly affected by Mercury poisoning from chemical factory meet up for an Alumni meet. They enjoy each other’s company. All five are deaf and dumb, they are affected because of mercury poisoning and hope to find a new tomorrow. But they end hitting a stranger with car. What happens to him? What happens to them? Watch the movie for answers…
Performances : Prabhu Deva stands out in the cast with his nuanced portrayal. He makes us believe in his character with just his appearance and he is very very good in the movie.
Sanath Reddy among the others register the most and Induja, also makes a genuine effort. All others fit the bill and did their best for the movie.
Technicalities : Sound design by Kunal Rajan should be appreciated and applauded. His use of sounds to create an atmosphere is highly noteworthy and never we feel alienated from the proceedings due to his tremendous work.
Cinematography by Thiru is a good example on how to create a detailed environment using the details available to you. His camera makes mote sound than the actors and we are kept engaged enough to the screen because of his visuals.
Music by Santhosh Narayanan is a good collaboration of the fusion themes and his work suits the movie. He also should be appreciated for his exhilarating work.
Editor Vivek Harshan made a good cut out of the footage he has been given by the director Karthik. He keeps his cut at a decent page but it is a screenplay that doesn’t really thrill us much.
Writer-Director Karthik Subbaraj after Pizza, tried the horror genre again. While his content has a compelling story and relevant message his screenplay lacks in thrills and chills. As a horror film, the film needed to have a major impact but it doesn’t really deliver on human connect. Karthik writes the movie clever enough but he loses out on telling it chilling enough.
Analysis : Silence is definitely a louder scream but it needed us to connect with the story re than it lets us. In a good horror film, we don’t just need a clever premise but a connect with the audiences too. Karthik in his penchant to create a technical Marvel loss out on creating a lasting impact. Even though premise demands a great attention from the viewer, execution fails in creating lasting impact.
