7TH DAY
Never
before has an actor’s smile changed shades and assumed a whole new meaning as
that of Prithviraj. As an actor he has exercised his faculty for smile plenty
of times, often translating it as a smirk, symbolic of nothing but absolute
coldness. Of late, this man – who has consistently bettered himself to be the
best – emotes brilliantly, making adept use of his smile with which he evokes
the identity of his characters with utmost respect.
7th day, a film made with lot of heart and brain finds its fulfillment in its lead. In a film where characters are puzzled with deaths, disappearances and questions around them, Prithviraj plays a man who wears thick-rimmed glasses with strands of white in neatly combed hair. His character is destined to find solutions, to hunt down answers and to trace true identities. There are reasons and objectives held back until all of these unfurl in a stunning final stroke which keeps the film rooted to a firm foundation.
Prithvi absorbs his character with dedication, knowing fully that a slight lapse might give away hints which could foil a plot built with care and skill. He doesn’t exert himself more than that is required, uttering his dialogues with a measure and modulation he can be proud of. There is a calm waiting to implode that plays on his face and he maintains that uncertainty religiously.
Working on a script by Akhil Paul which exudes a lot of verve, Syamdhar is prudent in his choice of shots and arrangement of sequences, ably concealing the nerves of a debutant. There are sensible touches of humour which the plot joyfully accommodates without ever upsetting the fluid flow of the narrative. Even when the plot drags or seems headed to banality, Syamdhar pulls it back with ease.
He is wonderfully assisted by the script and the frames Sujith designs for the film. His camera switches between close-ups and long-shots, swoops over a menacingly frothy waterfall and tends to give a bleached tint to his daylight visuals, an element that contributes to the riveting confusion between the real and the unreal, the past and the present.
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