HER: Chapter 1 review: Ruhani Sharma hauls this crime thriller forward, but fails to sustain momentum in the end

Actor Ruhani Sharma has been showing variety in terms of script selection — right from her Telugu debut Chi La Sow (2018).

Later, films like Hit: The First Case (2020) and Dirty Hari (2020) won her good applause.

Now, the latest outing — HER: Chapter 1 — is something which made her break the monotony of girl-next-door characters.

Synopsis

IPS officer Archana Prasad is bruised with her personal loss after Taskforce officer Seshadri Prasanna (Vikas Vashisht) is killed by notorious gangster Keshav (Chanakya Tejas) during a raid at a defunct railway workshop in the city.

She dives into action after six months into suspension with mysterious twin murders — Swathi and her friend Vishal Pasupuleti are brutally murdered by unidentified men at Narsingi in Gandipet mandal.

What’s the motive of the killers behind these murders? How crucial it is for Archana to crack the case at the same time fighting with her vulnerabilities is what HER: Chapter 1 is all about.

Also Read: ‘The Trial’ is a gripping drama that goes beyond the courtroom

Pacy first half

Director Sreedhar Swaraghav manages to keep the first half pacy.

The process of the investigation into the twin murders as Archana undergoes the pain of losing her fiance, the images of tragic gunfire, and the happy moments spent with Sesh — keep recurring in Archana’s mind.

At the same time, the ACP is resolved to catch the culprits at any cost.

Jeevan Kumar’s comedy as sub-inspector Nataraj keeps the audience engaged.

Giving an initial impression of a serious-looking, no-nonsense cop, Nataraj makes himself a laughing stock with the way he deals with things.

Like the scene where he and a few policemen squeeze through the busy lane of Hafeezpet to catch hold of a suspect named Santosh. Poor Nataraj ends up suffering a blow after the suspect flings a spanner.

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Faltered in few scenes

The love track between Ruhani Sharma and Vikas Vashisht and the subsequent song didn’t really break the routine mould.

Director Sreedhar Swaraghav’s innate ability is in writing scenes that have limited dialogues. He has good flair and flow in storytelling.

But it looks as though he faltered when it comes to handling sequences with dialogues.

There is a sequence where two NIA (National Investigation Agency) officers arrive at the DCP office to enquire about the case with Ruhani in the presence of her higher-up Banerjee.

NIA officer Ravi Prakash urges Banerjee to transfer the case to the NIA since there is a national threat involved.

The scene is so poorly conceived that the DCP takes the instant decision to hand over the case to the NIA.

And these “unprofessional” NIA sleuths not only belittle ACP Archana but also stare at her in grouse while leaving the office.

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Poorly shot and edited

Even in the first half, the director doesn’t try to show how task force officer Seshadri gets killed in the exchange of gunfire.

It was so abruptly cut that you can’t really comprehend how it started and why it ended that way — Sesh steps on broken glass pieces.

Keshav, who is waiting for the chance behind, presses the trigger. The gunshots leave no chance for Sesh to dodge, resulting in his death.

The scene of the Telangana police landing in Raichur to catch Lohiya is poorly shot.

Nevertheless, the interval sequence of Archana questioning her deputy Deepak in the case has been shot superbly.

In fact, the music scored by Pavan for the scene raised curiosity as to how the story takes a turn.

However, the second half has too many characters squeezing space so randomly into the story.

The climax should have ended by giving a proper premise of gangster Keshav (Chanakya Tejas)’s profile. How he established a kingdom of arms trade would have raised some seriousness in audiences to invest their time in the second franchise.

Doubts of over-editing keep hovering in mind. This possibly could have affected the story.

Nevertheless, the director makes a good attempt at trying to give a realistic picture of police procedure in a crime story.

Also Read: ‘Sathiya Sothanai’ reflects the sorry state of affairs in the police force

Performances

HER: Chapter 1 is solely hauled forward by Ruhani Sharma. Her performance as a woman IPS with a strong resolve to book the culprits is well showcased.

Chanakya Tejas makes a mere cameo.

Banerjee and Ravi Varma have little to do with the small space.

Sanjay Swaroop has done a good job. 

Jeevan Kumar does a good bite. He chips in well with his humour and entertains viewers with his satires.

Verdict 

A question may arise in your mind whether HER: Chapter 1 is attempting to mimic some of Adivi Sesh’s suspense thrillers. The film falls flat in terms of execution in the second half.

(Views expressed here are personal.)