The 100, produced by Ramesh Karutoori, Venki Pushadapu, and J Tharak Ram, is currently showing in theatres. In this section, we review the latest BO release.
Plot:
IPS officer Vikranth (RK Sagar) is a no-nonsense cop bound by values and his own set of stringent rules. He doesn't use his service revolver because he believes he is a weapon unto himself. A series of robberies rock the city, sending the police department into a tizzy. When he puts his mind to the complicated case, Vikranth discovers that the robberies took place on Amavasya days, leaving little to no trail. There is another interesting detail to those robberies, hinting at an unpredictable motive of sorts.
Meanwhile, Vikranth develops romantic feelings for Aarathi (Misha Narang), a danseuse from a respected family. When he learns that she is a victim of a heinous crime, he starts connecting the dots, only to be confused by the complexity of the case.
Post-Mortem:
Writer-director Raghav Omkar Sasidhar sets up the right mood in the initial phase. The audience's expectations are set right in no time. The 100, we get to know, is not just a commercial actioner but also a moody investigative thriller. It's a Whydunit rather than a Whodunit or a Howdunit.
In one of the early scenes, Vikranth says that cops are supposed to elicit respect, not craze, from the public. This is such a profound insight, something police officers in developed countries believe in by default. In the age of mindless glorification of encounter specialists by the media, this thinking is such a whiff of fresh air. In another scene, a female character questions the traffic police about the malfunctioning of the traffic lights system when her vehicle is wrongfully stopped. While she might sound confrontational on the surface, deep down, her sentence is thought-provoking. How often do the systems do their jobs well in India? If these systems, which are supposed to set the highest standards for the public, are derelict, do they have the moral authority to penalize the common man?
In a mass-appealing stretch, Vikranth decides to question the local MLA himself because he is a probable suspect. Vikranth's maverick ways stun his subordinates and stump the politician. The execution of this scene could have been better, though. The scene would have worked like a thunder had Vikranth asked his subordinate where the MLA was on the day the suspects were paraded. The lower-ranking cop then rushes to the MLA's residence to present him for the occasion.
When the hero tells other cops not to ignore any clue in the crime scene, we might be tempted to wonder if they don't know this much. But when you watch the scene with the awareness that inefficiency and apathy are par for the course in the police department, it hits home.
By and by, the film introduces an interesting element when the male protagonist stumbles upon interesting clues pertaining to a series of jewelry robberies. The modus operandi of the mysterious gangs remains a puzzle. The characters played by Vishnupriya and Dhanya Balakrishna make brief appearances in the first half amid a tension-building setting.
Harshavardhan Rameshwar's BGM is decent. Shyam K Naidu has shot the film as the cinematographer.
On the flip side, the otherwise well-written script is slightly dragged down by RK Sagar's not-so-wow screen presence. Since he doesn't have an action hero image, the tough cop act doesn't come with enough gravitas. In a scene, he is seated on the front portion of his police vehicle. He doesn't look domineering at all.
Some elements are too convenient. The ethical hacker trope is one such. The hero's mother (played by Kalyani Natarajan) being a psychiatrist is another. The dumb subordinate character (played by VV Giridhar) is a cliche. Misha is reduced to a damsel in distress. There are convenient coincidences (like the hero discovering the broken anklet by chance).
Closing Remarks:
The 100 is a largely engaging investigative thriller that smartly delves into themes of societal integrity and police ethics. While lead actor RK Sagar's screen presence doesn't always match the script's gravitas and some plot devices feel too convenient, writer-director Raghav Omkar Sasidhar's fresh perspective and a "Whydunit" approach make this film watchable.
