“DNA” Film Review

Nelson Venkatesan, the director of Monster and Farhana returns to films with a tense thriller titled DNA with Atharva and Nimisha Sajayan heading an impressive cast. The supporting cast includes Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub, Chetan, Ramesh Thilak, Balaji Sakthivel, Viji Chandrasekar, Riythvika, Bose Venkat, Subramaniam Siva, Maanasa Choudhary, Thendral Raghunathan and special guest appearances by Karunakaran and Gayathrie Shankar.

An accident at night that leaves a young baby orphaned and the cover-up that follows has far reaching consequences that affect the lives of a young couple many years later. Atharva plays Anand, a young man who has taken to alcohol to forget his traumatic past is introduced to Dhivya (Nimisha Sajayan) who has a borderline mental challenge. The unlikely union brings to the fore a myriad of problems, compounded later by the birth of their first child. What these problems are and how they are eventually resolved forms the rest of this tense and disturbing thriller.

The script, co-written by Nelson Venkatesan and Athisha Vino forms the backbone of this film as it fleshes out each character to magnificent detail, forming the perfect base for some breathtakingly brilliant acting performances.

Atharva seems to be maturing with each successive role and his portrayal of Anand in this film is electrifying. He is able to portray the fiery emotions and deep-seated angst of his character in the most credible manner.

It is difficult to imagine anyone portraying the character of Dhivya better than Nimisha Sajayan. Her expressive eyes, telling body language and subtle nuances in intonation in her speech show all the indicators of a perfectionist who puts in maximum effort. The result is a performance that is deeply moving because of how realistic it is.

Ramesh Thilak is in what appears to be a subdued role, but is actually one that is extremely challenging to play. Ramesh handles the role superbly.

Not enough can be said of Chetan’s acting ability. He remains one of Kodambakkam’s finest character artists because of the intensity of his performances and he does not disappoint with his portrayal in this film of Anand’s father, Sivasubramaniam.

Viji Chandrasekhar’s portrayal of Dhivya’s frustrated mother is another of the film’s highlights as her performance captures all the emotions of a concerned and desperate mother without resorting to melodrama.

Balaji Sakthivel is in a powerful supporting role and the unexplored arc in his personal life only adds to the film’s depth and realism. This is a subtle work of a genius and is the kind of underplaying that Tamil cinema lacks in many of the mainstream commercial fare.

Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub plays his role well, but one cannot help but wonder what the role would have been like had it been portrayed by someone like S.J. Surya.

Nelson Venkatesan’s screenplay in the first half could have been a bit tauter, but cannot be faulted in the film’s tense second half. As the disturbing events unfold, the plausibility of the plot makes the events all the more terrifying.

Parthiban’s cinematography plays a major role in elevating this film with artistic framing and creative use of light.

Ghibran Vaibodha’s background score is superb and the songs by the five different music composers – Sai Siva, Shrikanth Hariharan, Pravin Saivi, Sathyaprakash and Anal Akash – all make solid contributions to the film.

DNA is a meticulously crafted film with a non-linear screenplay that keeps the viewer engaged and involved. It is chillingly realistic in its plot, story and script and the powerful acting performances complete the effect.

DNA scores 9 points out of 10.