Trisha has given us back-to-back performances this year, with movies where she is the main lead to an ensemble cast, she has proved her mettle each time. With The Road, she delivers an excellent performance but the plot of the movie drags in so many places making it just an average watch.

It starts off with Meera( Trisha) and her husband Anand (Santosh Prathap) planning their son’s birthday trip. When she finds out that she is pregnant and needs to be careful in the first 3 months, she decides to not accompany them on this road trip. With hesitation and a sense of bad feeling, she sends off her husband and son on a trip. What happens on the journey and why form the rest of the story.

Anu(Miya George) plays Meera’s friend who is all set to meet the father and son in Madurai en route to their destination. When unfortunate news arrives, she stands strong with her friend as an emotional support.

Two stories go parallelly, one where we see Meera’s ordeal after the incident and the other where we see the series of events that unfold in Maya’s (Shabeer)life. It is unclear in the first half how these two storylines are interconnected. As the movie progresses, we see how and why these two individuals are the two main leads of this mystery thriller.

Maya used to be a professor, a good one at that. When he is approached by a student, he declines her advances. The girl loses all sense of reason and resorts to the worst way to possibly take revenge. She accuses him of abusing her which results in him being fired and a lifetime of shame. This is where his story begins and not ends.

The performances are the best part of this movie. Every member of the cast from MS Bhaskar as the cop to Shabeer, the acting is faultless. They will draw you in and keep you hooked but the movie lacks a sense of grip that seems to be a big cause of concern.

There are attempts at great storytelling here, we see a character arc of both the protagonists whether it is Meera or Maya. Their backgrounds and lives, the circumstances that make them do what they do, those aspects have been carefully brought to life.

The soundtrack is complementing, it’s compelling at places but the songs are neither catchy nor impactful in this film.

The genre of the film is thrilling and investigative. It draws you in and leaves you hanging with an unnecessary addition of graphic scenes and situations. Can it be called a women-centric film because the main character is played by a woman? It doesn’t talk about women’s rights or their struggles, it never takes into consideration the fact that the fight is led by a woman. Is it safe for a woman to walk alone on a highway in our country? We understand that the movie may or may not want to bring that thought into mind, but that is what every woman sitting in the theatre will certainly think about. A tad bit of attention to detail would have helped give the story some depth. It’s an ordinary cat-and-mouse game which carries a message that’s very generic and a screenplay that’s weak.

Verdict : A mystery thriller helmed by superb performances but the slow pace of the film is the reason for its downfall.
Rating 2.5/5