One of the most experimental and ‘different’ kind of film that I saw recently was ‘Oththa Seruppu Size 7’. The special thing about the film is that there is only one character visible throughout the film. The film starts gripping you right from the beginning and there is not a single ‘dull ‘ moment.
The film tells the story about a guy named Masilamani, who has been accused of a murder and is being interrogated by police. A notice has been sent by Human Rights Commission not to violate the rules while interrogating him. We see Masilamani as quite sharp, witty and outspoken, his street-smartness coming to the surface when he prepares his written statement before he is been asked for it. We are also told that his son is suffering from a serious condition where he won’t survive for long, as we see Masilamani breaking down multiple times while interrogation is on. Through his wordplay and wittiness, how he extracts revenge forms the rest of the story.
The film is a revenge and psychological thriller and though, only one character is visible throughout the film, there are voices from other characters too. We can also see their hands giving him a glass of water, etc. The film has a lot of dialogues as the exposition comes directly from the character himself. R Parthiban plays Masilamani in the film and he is also the writer, producer and director of the film.
The film also scores and fascinates through its art direction, which is just a small dingy room but it has been used effectively to block the actor. Also the lighting done by cinematographer Ramji helps us to understand the psyche of the main character. There is a lot of mood lighting which makes this film a treat. Resul Pookutty’s sound design helps us to differentiate between almost every sound that comes on screen.
Though the film is certainly not the best, yet it keeps you glued for the entire duration of one and the half hours or so. Watch this murder mystery is you want something extraordinary and different. I watched the film on Amazon Prime. You can too !!