Aval Peyar Rajni review: A run-of-the-mill revenge thriller

Director Vinil Scariah Varghese’s Aval Peyar Rajni (Her Name is Rajni) is a fairly engaging entertainer that starts as a supernatural thriller and ends up as a crime drama.

The film begins with a very happy, content couple Abhijith (Saiju Kurup) and Gowri (Namitha Pramod) returning home late in the night after paying a visit to one of Abhijith’s close friends who stay in a forlorn place on the outskirts of the city.

As luck would have it, the car stalls on a lonely stretch after running out of fuel. Leaving Gowri in the car, Abhijith leaves for the nearest petrol bunk to get fuel for the vehicle.

Gowri locks herself in the car and goes to sleep. However, a while later, she is rudely woken up by some thudding sounds from the top of the car.

When she gets out, she sees Abhijith lying on the roof of their car in a pool of blood with the silhouette of a woman, who appears to be possessed, murdering him.

Gowri loses consciousness and finds herself in a hospital upon waking up.

Her brother Naveen (Kalidas Jayaram), who dearly loves his sister, decides to get to the bottom of his brother-in-law’s death.

Even as the cops begin investigating the murder, Naveen starts his probe. One thing leads to another and before long Naveen finds out that Abhijeet, before his death, said that he had a feeling that he was being tailed by someone.

Who has been following Abhijith and why? Naveen sets out to find the answers in Aval Peyar Rajni.

Cliched ending

To Vinil Scariah Varghese’s credit, he manages to kindle your curiosity and thereby wins your attention. For the most part, the film keeps you interested as the developments are fresh.

However, towards the end, the prime reason cited for the crime appears cliched. This invariably has an impact on the audience’s interest in the plot of the movie.

Moreover, the flick ends with several knots that continue to remain untied, leaving several questions in the minds of the audience unanswered.

For all practical reasons, Aval Peyar Rajni can be termed a run-of-the-mill revenge thriller. It provides no great scope for any of its actors to perform.

Despite this, all the lead actors deliver neat performances, making the film a reasonably good entertainer.

RR Vishnu’s lighting and visuals give the film a classy elegance and texture.

Deepu Joseph’s editing is tight and keeps the story moving at a brisk pace. However, he fails to ensure that all the knots have been tied before ending the film and this works against the film.

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Verdict

Aval Peyar Rajni is a decent entertainer with a social message that works, by and large, because of how the story has been narrated.

(Views expressed here are personal.)