January 22, 2012 Y. Sunita Chowdary
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All of us at some point of time in childhood must have played the game of spirits or heard about them. Debutant director Krishna Varma who worked as an assistant in Lakshyam brings an interesting and a very engaging two hour story that has five friends arguing about the existence of God and devil and then squatting for a game on the Ouija Board. The game boasts of calling the spirit of the dead and having conversations with it.
Play begins in a posh apartment introducing the characters and how they are led into playing the game. The director shows that he has the chops to handle such a highly complicated theme, and on a parallel level giving us a clear character sketch of the five friends and making one feel as if you are one amongst them involved in the process and outcome of the game.
The film shifts from being a comedy, adventure, thriller as it keeps one guessing of the next move. Ashok, Nikki (Trinath), Gopi, Subhash live together in a flat and Nikki's friend Shanti (Srilakshmi) from the USA calls him to tell that she is in town and would want to visit him. The watchmen and the apartment supervisor are already breathing fire on seeing a women walking into a bachelor's pad.
Vijay a common friend drops in for a while and agrees to be part of the spirit game that they want to play for fun. The seriousness and alarm sets in when Shanti who begins the game forgets to close it and cannot revive him after sunrise. The friends have to wait for Shanti to return at dusk again but she doesn't..what happens then?
Astro-travelling or suspended animation is defined as bringing out the spirit and having conversations while the person is still alive; Sixteen years back a serial on televison on this topic evoked interest, but this is the first time a film is made on it claims the director. The film released and was pulled out due to Businessman's occupation of theatres. It is releasing again on the 20th of this month.
It's a wonderful start for the talented Krishna Varma who wrote this script only because he lacked a budget to make a love story and be noticed in the industry. Play is worth a watch for it's script, direction, competent acting and the technical finesse all made within a shoestring budget.
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