U-Turn - Simple and Thrilling!

Prologue : I remember, Pawan Kumar, in his short film making workshops, emphasizes on how a creative person develops a personal disturbance into a story. Sometime back, Pawan had witnessed a giant fuel tanker falling off a flyover near Nagarabhavi, Bengaluru. Quite disturbed, he had shared the incident in his Facebook status. Now, if you see U-Turn, you can readily make the connection. 

What is U-Turn about? U-Turn is a simple story revolving around a traffic violation, so commonly seen in Bengaluru. But you can change the setting to any metro in India and you will find the same story shaping pretty well, there too.

Picture Courtesy : Kannada Films

What I liked about U-Turn :

• I am a huge fan of scripts, in which familiar places/landmarks, play an important role. For instance, I cannot stop talking about Manipal Center near M G Road, Bengaluru, whenever I pass by that landmark. It was here, Nishkarsha, a heist thriller Kannada movie of the 90s, was shot. In U-Turn, it is the double road flyover near Richmond Circle! This familiarity with the places makes a special connection with the audience.
• Though Pawan keeps the mystery element till the end of the movie, he also gives some clues at times. In the very first scene, you can hear repeated utterances of Karma in background. You can find some more during the course of the movie. 
• It is an edge of the seat thriller and keeps the audience guessing till the last scene. Kendasampige was the last thriller I enjoyed in Kannada, which goes on similar lines. RangiTaranga came before that. It's raining thrillers in Kannada!
• There are no regular songs in the movie - a bold and encouraging move. With a tight script like U-Turn, you can do away with the needless songs most of the times.
• People who are keen on understanding the basics of movie making can easily find out how a very simple story can be developed into a full blown movie. Kudos to Pawan for that. If your expectations are high of the movie after watching Lucia, I would say lower them and enjoy this movie with a fresh mindset.
• Real portrayal of police department - One could also observe how our law and order system works adhering to rules and regulations. It is not one of those movies, where a cop turns super villain and puts an innocent behind bars without proper investigation.

Whether you should watch the movie: I would say watch it for its engaging screenplay and simplicity of the script and of course, for the exciting twists in the story.

On the general theme of the movie: I read somewhere that developing countries lack the resources and manpower to enforce the regulations in civic administration – be it traffic regulation or tax collection. Though it is true to most extent, it is the basic civic sense, which is lacking in majority of population. If people mend their ways after watching U-Turn, I believe Pawan’s efforts have paid off!

Trailer of U-Turn - Kannada Film : 

Update 14th June 2016 (Spoiler Alert) : Director Pawan Kumar has revealed what was the inspiration behind the unconventional movie - U Turn. Actor Sudeep had asked Pawan in Twitter, how did such a concept come to Pawan's mind. For which, Pawan replied saying "Once he was travelling via the flyover, it was raining. Street lights were switched off. He was driving his car, when he noticed few blocks of the road divider being removed to take the U-Turn. He was too scared at that time." Now, you can notice the simplicity of script, if you have already watched the movie. You can watch Pawan's answering Sudeep's question in the following video.

@KicchaSudeep 2nd question answered pic.twitter.com/heLZr2xbub

— Pawan Kumar (@actorinme) June 13, 2016

Related Links :

• Participating in Pawan Kumar's Film Making Workshop
• Lucia - Kannada Movie - directed by Pawan Kumar (revolving around fake enhancement drugs available in market)
• Lifeu Ishtene - Kannada Movie - directed by Pawan Kumar

Buy U-Turn Kannada Movie DVD here