What Is the Story About?
Set in Lake Shore High School in a hill station, Oru Kodai Murder Mystery, as the title suggests, is about a murder. A girl, Thara Namritha MV), is found dead in a lake. She is a popular face in the school, making the case critical for the police.
Vyom (Aakash Srinivas), son of the principal Lakshmi (Abhirami), has a crush on Thara. The series’s basic plot is how he and his gang find the real killer.
Performances?
Aakash Srinivas, as Vyom, is the young-adult student cum detective lead. One automatically goes along with the narrative with him leading. He, like others, is an example of good casting and one glimpse and the entire trope involving the genre flashes into the mind.
Srinivas does alright, but at times one can’t help but wonder if there is too much packed in the role for him to deal with. The portions involving Thara, the ones with his mother and brothers, the flashback etc., feel like overkill to make the proceedings heavy. The heaviness can be felt on the actor’s face, but not in the right way. It is, in the end, a decent act despite all the issues.
Abhirami playing the mother cum principal role is good. She has a lovely and confident presence which has been used well. The emotional moments are related to the not-so-interesting subplots, which makes her performance register less.
Analysis
Vishal Venkat directs Oru Kodai Murder Mystery. It is a whodunit set in a hill station with a high school backdrop.
The narrative takes time to settle as the director focuses on establishing the different characters. High school students based thrillers aren’t that regular locally, but they are somewhat routine on OTT across other languages. We can see that the various tropes are judiciously followed in Oru Kodai Murder Mystery, and it all begins with character establishment.
Once the gang of friends are set along with their characterisations Oru Kodai Murder Mystery follows a predictable turn of events.
At eight episodes, it is a long-winded journey that is sometimes muddled to reach a conclusion. Parts of it are no doubt engaging when the expectations are set, but the length and various red herring are tiring after a point.
The performances hold the attention despite the silliness at times and the length. The casting of the different parts is good, and they do a decent job of living up to the tropes given to them. Some portions also have the proper drama (despite the drag) to get things going.
After all the duration, the ending is always crucial in thrillers. The final two episodes are neat in this regard. After a point, one knows who the killer might be, but it all is handled well, even if nothing surprising. The screenplay and the performances do the trick.
Overall, Oru Kodai Murder Mystery is a passable murder mystery that is held together by the cast and performances at crucial moments. If length is not an issue and you love the genre, try it. But remember to have the expectations under check.
Other Artists?
Namritha MV, Abitha V and Nikhil Nair have decent roles with scope for performance among the supporting set of actors. They have done well at all the crucial blocks. In fact, they are the reason the narrative holds despite the various issues.
John Jude Kennedy, Frankinsten, Sylvensten, and Nakshatra Prashanth, belonging to the friends’ gang, are well cast, instantly invoking the genre tropes. It makes it easy to believe the acts even though the actual acting itself is ordinary. The rest of the cast playing more minor roles are decent Aishwariya, Raaghav Ranganathan etc.
Music and Other Departments?
Sudharshan M Kumar provides music which is ordinary most of the time. Some bits are fine, but the large swathes of dullness overshadow them. For a small production, the technical work is decent. The locations help the cinematographer PM Rajkumar to give the right moody visual. JA Mathivathanan’s editing should have been tighter. The length is a bummer in the thriller. The writing is okay.
Highlights?
Casting
Performances
Last Couple Of Episodes
Drawbacks?
Length
Muddled At Times
Slow Paced Narrative
Did I Enjoy It?
Yes, In Parts
Will You Recommend It?
Yes, But With Huge Reservations
Oru Kodai Murder Mystery Series Review by Binged Bureau
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