Carbon Movie Review : Clever writing masks this okayish thriller's serviceable filmmaking
Jan 28,2022
Carbon begins with the protagonist Shankar (Vidaarth, solid in his 25th film) waking up from a bad dream, in which he his hit by a vehicle while jogging. He goes on his morning run as usual, and as in the dream, a vehicle appears from behind. He manages to get out of his way, and yet, he ends up in an accident that mildly injures him.
Director R Srinuvasan instantly sets up a great premise. We know Shankar is going to have one dream that is going to create trouble for him. But before that, the director gives us a solid relationship arc involving Shankar and his father Subburayan (Marimuthu, who gets to play an endearing character for once). The young man isn't on speaking terms with his widowed father for a reason, and his communication takes places only through voice messages on WhatsApp. In a few scenes, we get a sense of their relationship.
Beneath the tiff on the surface, there is deep love and respect. In a neat touch, we see how Subburayan offers money to his unemployed son.
The plot kicks in when Shankar dreams of his father, the driver of a garbage disposal truck, meeting with an accident. He tries to stop it, but like in the opening scene, he is unable to. Subburayan ends up in hospital, and to get him treated, Shankar needs a huge amount. And the only way he can get that is by trying to find out the identity of the hit-and-run driver through his dreams. On the suggestion of a friendly hospital worker, he tries to recreate his day so that he will get the dream that will show him who the mysterious figure is.
In some ways, R Srinuvasan's Carbon is a time-loop movie. As in films of that genre, here, too, the protagonist has to relive a particular day again and again. But then, this film isn't exactly a time-loop movie. Here, the hero has to consciously recreate the same day so that he can achieve his objective. But unlike in time-loop films, here, it does take a leap of faith to buy into this premise.
For some, it might be as huge as the one Shankar takes after the suggestion from the hospital worker. But the director makes us buy into it with some clever writing. As Shankar starts to recreate his day, we see him bumping into the same set of characters, and we see how he develops relationships with them. He even falls in love with one of them (Dhanya B, effective), who begins to play a bigger role in the scheme of things in the latter portions. The director also gives us a twist that works. And the manner in which all these characters come together in the climax also shows the resourcefulness in the writing.
But the issue with the film is that all its pleasures are chiefly derived only the writing. For, Srinuvasan's filmmaking is functional at best. The writing manages to mask the inadequacies of the filmmaking as long as it stays clever and engaging. But the staging is very basic so in the places when the writing isn't up to the mark, the film begins to look like an amateurish attempt. Contrast this with a film like Maanaadu, in which the filmmaking and the writing worked in tandem to deliver a nail-biting thriller. Interestingly, that film's editor, KL Praveen, is also the editor here! There are also logical loopholes, especially involving the police. Despite cracking the identity of the driver, and finding out the motive behind the murder attempt, we see the police acting in a clumsy manner that stick out. Even the 'romantic' portions and Shankar's decision in the end also needed better writing. This is why the film feels merely watchable when it had the potential to be truly terrific.
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