Release date : February 26 2016
123telugu.com Rating : 2/5
Director : Shakti S. Rajan
Producer : Mukesh R Mehta
Music Director : D. Imman
Starring : Jayam Ravi, Lakshmi Menon
Touted to be South India’s first zombie thriller, the Tamil dubbed film, Yamapasham has released today amidst stiff competition. Armed with a unique genre, let’s see how this Zombie thriller fares.
Story-:
Set in Ooty, Yamapasham starts off with a toxic chemical leak in a factory. When the workers fail to clean-up or notify the authorities, the leak which turns out to be an deadly zombie virus slowly spreads to the humans.
On the other hand, Karthik (Jayam Ravi) is a sincere traffic police officer whose life is thrown upside down when his sister gets kidnapped during the time this virus spreads all over the city. Parallel to this, a group of doctors including Renuka (Lakshmi Menon) are trying to find a cure for this deadly virus.
The events that take place after the virus leak and how the lead pair’s path crosses each other and how they manage to solve this problem makes up for the rest of the story.
Plus Points-:
The director should be applauded for taking a risk with a unique genre that has seldom been attempted in India. Zombie genre, although famous for decades in Hollywood, has never been focused upon and the director had the right idea in mind to introduce the new genre in the south.
Jayam Ravi and Lakshmi Menon have acted well within their limitations of their characters. Kali Venkat brought some laughs into the mix. Rest of the ensemble cast did a decent job. First half kicks off with a decent start and the interval bang is quite interesting. A short, crisp runtime and impressive production values are another highlights for this zombie thriller.
Minus Points-:
To start off with, the studio who bought the rights could have chosen a much better title than Yamapasam which sounds like a B-grade flick. Although the idea was novel and the director had ample amount of chances to create enough thrills, he failed to utilize the opportunity and throws in too much melodrama which bogs down the proceedings.
Logic goes for a toss and a little more clarity on the virus leak would have been helpful. The second half, especially the climax are a huge disappointment. After an interesting interval bang, the second half takes a straight dip and falls even further with the climax fight.
The abrupt ending also leaves a lot to be desired. Dubbing for a few artists is worse. The love story is half-baked and could have totally been avoided. The actors are quite famous in Tamil, but are relatively unknown in Tollywood, which will also work against the dubbed version.
Technical Aspects-:
Production values are quite good. Editing is sub-par but the placement of songs could have been better or avoided altogether. The background score is unusually loud and abruptly cut in certain places.
Dialogues are nothing great to write about and due to average translation effort, the effect is lost in places. VFX is ordinary but the make-up for zombies is commendable. The sets bring a positive effect to the happenings.
Verdict:-
On the whole, Yamapasham fails to impress the audience. Although, the concept is completely new to the south, the makers have completely faltered in churning out a thrilling ride. Also, the ending will especially leave the viewers in disgust. Finally, if you have nothing better to do and are still hell bent on watching this zombie flick, go in at your own risk.
123telugu.com Rating : 2/5
Reviewed by 123telugu Team