Let me first explain its unusual title that will surely raise your curiosity towards the film and its commendable execution as a rare crime mystery thriller. The English translation of the phrase is 16 EXTREMES that can also be referred as 16 Directions to be specific and you can further take it as a film about an old unsolved case looked upon through (16) different hidden directions as per the various characters associated with it.
An officer retires post a hit and run case left open and he even loses his right leg in an accident during the investigations. After five years, he receives an unknown guest and they both revisit the entire chain of events once again (through their individual perspectives) leading to some shockingly unexpected revelations never known before.
Ideally that should be enough to provoke the lovers of suspense/mystery thriller genre to go for the movie at the earliest. But for friends who still need more, this is a debut film of writer-director Karthick Naren at the age of 22 (read again, its just 22). And that’s a clear announcement of a director to watch out for in the future.
The film stars a renowned actor Rahman playing the lead and rest all as newcomers giving fine, worth praising performances in their respective roles. However the actors are just not the only ones performing on the screen as here we have the visuals working brilliantly and the background music grabbing you from the very first scene itself introducing a masked killer. Moreover while watching it just pay attention to the different sounds of things happening in the background in every single sequence of the film given an uncommon importance. In short, its first dialogue with the voice over says, “Life can be unpredictable”……. and that’s exactly what the film turns out to be in its less than two hours of duration.
Uninterested in following any set pattern, it hasn’t got any sub-plot inserted to fulfill the commercial needs and every sequence as well as character has something to do with its chain of events in the end. The weaker moments are very few perfectly covered up by the gripping pace and you cannot really afford to do multitasking or go for a break with a fear of missing something. Well received by the audience and the critics together the film was later dubbed in Telugu as 16: EVERY DETAIL COUNTS and reportedly its rights have been now bought for a Hindi remake too (forcing me to pray that they don’t screw it as usual inserting an additional plot and songs).
So if this is your genre then go for it at the earliest without wasting any more time and in case this is not your most preferred genre……….. then this is the movie that can change that preference quite easily making a solid impact. An unmissable mystery thriller by a writer-director of just 22, well supported by his actors, composer, cinematographer, editor and the entire technical team.
Written & Directed by Karthick Naren
Starcast : Rahman, Prakash, Vijayaraghava, Sharath Kumar, Praveen, Santhosh and more
Music by Jakes Bejoy
Cinematography and Editing by Sreejith Sarang
Tags :
Dhuruvangal Pathinaaru / D-16 Movies To See Before You Die List by Bobby Sing at bobbytalkscinema.com, Must Watch Movies List by Bobby Sing, Not To Be Missed Suspense Mystery Films, Indian Regional Language Gems
