Shraddha Srinath is on a self determined mission to convince her editor to let her work and publish an investigative feature article on the mysterious murders which took place in Manapad on the day of Christmas. The editor initially rejects her requests as he thinks its like any other simple murders. But, Shraddha convinces him otherwise, and sets on to discover the real story behind the crime, by initiating a series of enquiries with the people who were associated with the demised.
Piecing all the evidences together, it points her to the lives of Nivin Pauly, Natty Natraj and Raj Bharath. Shraddha then pokes her way around trying to figure out who they are, and gets to know that people have mixed feelings towards Nivin Pauly. Some feel that he actually has a heart of a gold, but has turned into a henchman due to circumstances, while others outrightly loathe him.
On the other hand, she discovers the stories of Natty Natraj a boat mechanic, and his lover Lakshmi Priyaa, a fisherwoman. And Raj Bharath, a childhood friend of Nivin Pauly's. The rest of the plot revolves around how Shraddha Srinath, gets to the bottom of the crime and find the crux of how their lives are intervened.
Nivin Pauly, has now officially become a Kollywood actor, as this marks as his first straight film in Tamil. He plays an almost anti-villain character, which many top stars think twice to do so, with their debut film of sorts. Though he needs to work on his accent a little more, he looks comfortable with pulling of a challenging character in a different language, and yet has delivered a near to perfect performance. Kudos to him.
Still, calling Richie a Nivin Pauly's movie is a little over rated, as the story does not exactly revolve only around him. Which may come as a disappointment to some of his ardent Tamil fans. Cinematographer and actor Natty Natraj, plays the second lead and has delivered an equally impressive performance. A special mention has to be given to Raj Bharath, who has pulled of a pivotal role with such sincerity.
Shraddha Srinath's subtle expressions and acting is a plus point. She is the voice and face behind unraveling the crimes, and she fits the role of a curiosity and passion driven journalist like a glove. Like wise, Prakash Raj, GK Reddy and Lakshmi Priyaa Chandramouli have done justice in playing their parts neatly.
Richie is a remake of a Kannada blockbuster film, Ulidavaru Kandanthe, with few plot changes. Debutant Gautham Ramachandran has done a pretty decent job in the directorial department, but has completely gone over the top and has complicated the screenplay a little too much. It was difficult to keep track of the film's flow, as so many elements and confusing ideas has been thrown into an otherwise simple script, which gets connected at the very end.
Though, the run-time of the film is barely 120 minutes, it feels much longer as the first half of the film is dragging and in parts even irritating, due to slow motion shots, unnecessary dialogue delivery and scenes. All together, Richie feels like a gangster film, which has been backfired. When it comes to a suspense thriller, there is a thin line between keeping the audience guessing and make them feel really frustrated. Maybe the film would have been a definite hit, if it was a genuine remake of the original one. Still, Richie, can be appreciated for it's attempt, and unique style of making.
B Ajaneesh Loknath is also the music director of the original version, and his decision to retain the same with the remake works well, as his background scores are in perfect sync with the film's genre. S Pandi Kumar's cinematography is an advantage, as his shots provide an exciting dark edge to the characters and the movie.
In short, Richie, is interesting at times and watchable.
