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It’s a pleasant shock, coming from a deviant (Shaitaan in 2011, David, Wazir, the series Taish) director like Bejoy Nambiar. And thus, it is undoubtedly his best work.
Never mind if the central idea—the all-important survival drama—is adapted and skillfully Indianized, from the 2018 Thai film, The Pool. What is important is the Indianization and the backstory here, totally different from the original, are ingeniously developed (also by Himanshu Sharma).
But that does not deviate an ounce from the gritty, gripping and goosebumps-inducing scary part of this drama where two human beings, trapped in a decrepit swimming-pool with a pet dog, have to face a crocodile. How does a crocodile come into a pool? Watch the film, why should I reveal that?!
And now the backstory: our hero is Maruti Kadam (Adarsh Gourav) a.k.a. Flopara from Nallasopara (a very distant suburb of Mumbai that is now like a small township) who is a rapper and has great ambitions about moving his mother (Kshitee Jog) and sister (Rajsi Anant Kinjalaskar) out from then environs of the low-class life they are used to until now. His idol is Ms. Vanity, (Shanaya Kapoor), she of the 2.3 million followers, a.k.a. Avani, an orphan who stays with her married sister and her husband and a companion, Lyra (Parul Gulati). She is, of course, loaded.
He manages to meet the girl with audacity, she likes him, they develop friendship and things evolve into love. Her family opposes union with a street-smart guy who, they naturally feel, must be after her wealth, while the girl visits Maruti’s house and precinct and has warm experiences with his welcoming mother, sister and best friend, called Fabric (Ansh Vikas Chopra).
But something unwanted happens, and the girl wants a break—to Goa. On the way, due to inclement weather, Tawde (Shrikant Mohan Yadav), a strict but jovial cop, helps put them up in a local lodge of sorts that is rundown and is positioned in front of the backwaters.
Adarsh Gourav is outstanding as Maruti and positions himself as a performer par excellence yet again after Guns & Gulaabs, Superboys of Malegaon and more. As the have-not rapper with a daring ambition, he is pitch-perfect to a fault.
Shanaya Kapoor marks a paradigm improvement over her disastrous debut in the calamitous Aankhon Ki Gustakhiyaanlast year. She could still do with some variations in her expressions and tones, though. As Tawde, Shrikant Mohan Yadav is phenomenal in his brief role, and Kshitee Jog, who is a producer and Marathi actor both of lofty stature, is superb as Maruti’s mother. As Fabric, Ansh Vikas Chopra spins a delightful texture into his performance. Parul Gulati as Lyra is wasted. The rest of the relatively-minor cast is alright.
The background score is perfect, and the VFX and camerawork of very high caliber, including the production design and art direction. The animatronics and underwater sequences are terrific.
The songs are functional, just like the multiple word-spinners and tunesmiths in Gully Boy. But the old songs are used fabulously in their original formats.
Abhishek Arun Bandekar’s dialogues are racy, perfectly in sync and very crisp and locally perfect. His one-liners (like Maruti’s interactions in private with Avani) are laced with superb wit and organically-emitting humor. He is a writer to watch, maybe with diverse schools of directors. Technically, except for the editing that could have been crisper, Tu Yaa Main is above the scale.
Overall, if you like being scared without a horror element, Tu Yaa Main is perfect Valentine’s Day fare: with your date or otherwise.
Rating: ***1/2
Colour Yellow Productions & Bhanushali Productions’ Tu Yaa Main Produced by: Aanand L. Rai, Himanshu Sharma, Vinod Bhanushali Directed by: Bejoy Nambiar Written by: Ping Lumpraploeng, Himanshu Sharma & Abhishek Arun Bandekar Music: Bappi Lahiri, Jatin-Lalit, Dhruv Vishwanath, Sez On The Beat, Chaitanya Pandit & Tushar Kunder, Raj Harrie, Adarsh Gourav & Aditya N., Kataaksh & Aditya Bisht, Kumaran Sivamani, DRJ Sohail Starring: Adarsh Gourav, Shanaya Kapoor, Kshitee Jog, Parul Gulati, Rajsi Anant Kinjalaskar, Shrikant Mohan Yadav, Ansh Vikas Chopra, Amrutha Srinivasan, Rajat Kaul, Sagar Muralidhar Bhandgar & others
