Spark Life review: This psychological thriller is marred by outrageous writing and terrible performances

Spark Life stars Mehreen Pirzada and debutant Vikranth in lead roles; Vikranth is also the director and the screenwriter of the Telugu film.

Produced by Deaf Frog Production, Spark Life is a psychological action thriller with a triangular love story.

Without much ado, let’s get into the synopsis:

The story begins with a spine-chilling death sequence. Soon, it takes the form of a typical commercial potboiler.

What follows next is recurring bouts of romance, of course, in dreams.

With Lekha (Mehreen Pirzada), you have always to expect the unexpected.

A man comes to greet her during the recurring dreams every night. Lekha hunts the elusive man with the help of her friend but in vain.

One day, she spots her man Arya (Vikranth Reddy) at a hospital. Meanwhile, mysterious murders of young women become a cause of worry for the city police.

Another love track comes on the screen to establish Vikranth’s past.

Poor editing and haphazard screenplay make the proceedings look outlandish.

Why are innocent girls turning into psychotic killers? What is the reason behind delusional paranoia? What is the need for Vikranth to change his identity and why did he shift his base from Visakhapatnam to Hyderabad? — are answered in the story.

Related: I want to turn my dreams into a reality: Mehreen Prizada

Analysis

Fun and love elements in the first half test your patience.

The episode of mysterious killings is the only element that could hold the interest, lest the whole drama would have taken for a toss.

Apparently, the amateur filmmaking in the second half bloated out on the screen as the plot gets disclosed midway.

The poor execution of the script only jeopardises the calculations of the filmmaker rather than adding any intrigue to the story.

Performances

The most unfortunate part of Spark Life is protagonist Vikranth’s acting.

With a newbie like him entering into films, it is the responsibility of the whole team to ensure that the lead pair does a good job of taking the story forward.

Delivering the right performances is the basic ingredient of any story irrespective of other troops.

Vikranth should probably work on his acting skills if he has to stay in the game.

Mehreen Pirzada and Rukshar Dhillon, who play the female leads, do not get enough meat in their characters.

Guru Somasundaram of Minnal Murali fame is fine with a limited scope for performance.

Senior actors like Nassar and Suhasini are wasted with poor characterisations.

The comedy track of Vennela Kishore and Sathya doesn’t evoke much fun.

Music composer Hesham Abdul Wahab is good at his job for a major part of the film.

Given the film’s poor writing, the cinematography leaves a not-so-great feeling.

Had it been handled by a senior filmmaker, Spark Life could have been a decent psychological crime thriller.

The concepts of mind-bending and delusional paranoia are good on paper, but it takes a lot of creative vision to transform such scripts from paper to big screen.

Also Read: I’m here to prove my mettle as an actor, says Payal Rajput

Verdict

Nowhere does Spark Life fare points in terms of making and screenplay. The poor performance of the lead characters adds only to its peril.

(Views expressed here are personal.)