Diary Movie Review

Arulnithi now has his third release in two months, with the form of Diary. Being one of Tamil cinema’s brand ambassador for thrillers, the actor ensures that he tries to make each film different from the other and pulls off his parts convincingly. In the same way, Diary is a thriller that starts off with a mystery element, but later on pulls in many other things that manage to pick our interest.

Varadhan Annadurai (Arulnithi) is a brand new cop entering the scene, and the first cold case he picks up leads him to Ooty, where he is made to work with Pavithra (Pavithra Marimuthu). As he dives deeper into the case, he and the people he meets on the way are led to a bus which is travelling from Ooty to Coimbatore. What happens to the different characters inside the bus, and what is the main reason why they all are brought together forms the crux of Diary. Innasi Pandiyan’s storyline is interesting, but instead of directly getting to the core, the first half is made to lag through the use of poorly written comedy that acts as a major speed breaker. Only when the story picks up pace, Diary gets all the more interesting and rams up a good pre-interval portion. In the second half, the film is filled with many twists and turns – some unpredictable and some predictable.

Arulnithi once again understands the true value of the script and delivers a performance that is apt to the requirements of the film. The actor is managing to show a difference between the different roles that he takes up.

The supporting cast of the film is packed with many young and lesser known actors who do a very good job and keep us glued.

The film is technically solid and has a chilling score by Ron Ethan Yohann, with the cinematography by Aravindd Singh being upto the mark.

On the whole, Diary is a well-packaged debut from Innasi Pandiyan that is eerie and intense at places. The comedy in the first half could have been avoided for a more seamless product, but at the moment, it gets through as a fine thriller to catch in theatres.  Diary Movie Review by Siddarth Srinivas

Diary Movie Review Rating: 3.25/5