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2/5

2 hour 50 mins   |   Thriller   |   17-11-2023

Cast - Vikranth, Mehreen Pirzada, Rukshar Dhillon, Nasser, Suhasini, Vennela kishore, Satya, Brahmaji, Srikanth Iyyengar

Director - Vikranth Reddy

Producer - Ravi Kumar Byrishetty, Leela Reddy

Banner - Deaf Frog Productions

Music - Hesham Wahab

Newcomer Vikranth Reddy catches attention by splurging on his acting and directorial debut SPARK. The film has Mehreen and Rukshar as the female leads. The rich production values and lavishly shot songs in the picturesque locales have drawn eyes. Will Vikranth scores with his debut? Let’s check out.

Plot

Lekha (Mehreen), who has been waiting for her dream guy, finds him in Aarya (Vikranth) and falls for him. But the shocking fact about Aarya emerges. His true identity (Jay) and he is involved in the murder of his ex-girlfriend Ananya (Rukshar) is revealed. How is Aarya aka Jay connected to the suspense suicide killings? Who is behind the mysterious suicide deaths and what is their motive? Unravelling this puzzle forms the crux of the story.

Performances

Vikranth finds it tough to emote. He is not comfortable in performing several scenes. Mehreen and Rukshar compensate for this. Malayalam actor Guru Somasundaram steals the show as a baddie. Suhasini has got an important role involving a twist. Nasser as usual delivers what is expected of him. Vennela Kishore and Satya are just sidekicks who don’t have much prominence. The film has good padding artists such as Annapurna, Brahmaji, Raja Ravindra, and Srikanth Iyengar. However, there is nothing much for them to offer.

Technicalities

In spite of having a debut actor, the producers have not compromised on the budget. It is made sure there are enough notable cast to balance the debutante. At the same time, special effort is put into the songs and their rich backdrop. But writing is the spoilsport. The mix of genres backfires. Music director Hesham Abdul’s strength is melody and he proves this again. However, the placement of a few songs obstructs the narration and also slows down the thriller. Cinematography is noteworthy. Stretched-out portions deserve to be edited out.

Thumbs Up

SPARK Concept
Production Scale

Thumbs Down

Mix of Genres
Stretched Out Drama
Too Many Sub-Plots
Songs Placement

Analysis

SPARK begins with the hook scene – Miss India Aradhana kills her father and commits suicide. There is an eerie darkness and a strange atmosphere (ghost-like) in the room. This creates curiosity. And then we were introduced to Lekha (Mehreen), a happy-go-lucky girl who is in search of her dream guy. The entire Mehreen track looks very artificial. Some scenes remind us of previous films.

Writer-director wastes a chunk of the time on unwanted scenes. He tries his best to establish a chemistry between Mehreen and Vikranth but fails miserably. Relatively, the love track of Jay and Ananya is somewhat better. Even it is not enough to hold a revenge drama.

The first half of the film doesn’t hold much interest in the proceedings. The thriller and horror elements bring some hope. But they vanish in no time. Post interval, the film nosedive and becomes a patience-tester. The film goes haywire as it touches upon crime, romance, mystery, comedy, scientific and biological elements and whatnot. On the surface, SPARK might appear as an ambitious attempt. The director infused too many sub-plots and many layers. It plays spoilsport. In the end, tying up all those loose ends becomes a headache. In this process, the narration is stretched out.

Though it has some engaging moments here and there, the missing links put us off. Some crucial logic goes for a toss. The only silver lining is its rich making and different concept. These are not enough to create a spark as there are many cracks all over it.

Verdict: No Sparks, Only Cracks!

Rating: 2/5

Tags Spark Movie Review Spark Review

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