HIT movie review: A riveting thriller with focused storytelling

HIT movie review: Produced by actor Nani, the film comes across as one of those thrillers that believe in an immersive experience more than relying on jump scares. Vishwak Sen is terrific as committed cop.

HIT
Director: Sailesh Kolanu
Cast: Vishwak Sen, Ruhani Sharma and Murali Sharma

HIT movie review: Produced by Nani, the film stars Vishwak Sen as a troubled cop.

In Telugu cinema, thriller happens to be one of the most underrated and unexplored genres. It’s hard to understand why not many Telugu filmmakers are keen to invest in the genre, but debutant Sailesh Kolanu’s HIT (Homicide Intervention Team) is a promising addition to the list. As a thriller, it busts quite a few norms associated with the genre – something as simple as twists don’t quite matter when you can build a taut thriller that never loses momentum. In building suspense and grim and taking it right till the end, HIT hits the ball out of the park.

Watch the trailer of HIT: 

The film is centered on Vikram Rudraraju (Vishwak Sen), an intelligent and committed police officer, who is coping from post traumatic stress and is advised to quit the force quite early on. Vikram has lost someone close, and the tragic incident triggers his panic attacks. After much contemplation, Vikram decides to take six months off from service but he promises to be available on phone whenever required. Two months into his break, Vikram is called to inform that his longtime girlfriend Neha (Ruhani Sharma), who works as a forensic officer, is missing. Vikram returns to force and as he starts investigating the disappearance of Neha, he realizes that the case is eerily similar to the disappearance of a young girl called Preethi, who went missing recently. As Vikram tries to connect the link between the two cases while dealing with his panic attacks, we are sucked into a world of crime and suspects.

HIT stars Vishwak Sen in the lead role.

HIT, which is produced by actor Nani, comes across as one of those thrillers that believe in an immersive experience more than relying on jump scares. It’s rare to come across such focused storytelling in Telugu cinema and HIT sets a strong example on how to achieve it. Unlike most thrillers, HIT doesn’t quite believe in the concept of a solid pay-off, which is why most might find the climax and the big revelation, slightly middling. It’s not a climax that leaves you on a high; nevertheless, it is a minor grouse which you can easily oversee when it comes to the overall riveting experience.

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The film doesn’t waste too much time on the crimes and its perpetrator; instead, it invests in its characters and effectively succeeds in building the mood and atmosphere. It’s well complemented by Vivek Sagar’s pulsating background score and the visuals of cinematographer Manikandan. Vishwak Sen is terrific in a role that’s easily his best so far in his career. As someone trying to cope with personal loss and fighting hard to stop another crime, he brings out the suffering and helplessness of his character convincingly. Finally, Nani deserves a pat for backing HIT, and willing to take risk and experiment. As an actor and star, he may like to play safe with his choices of films but he isn’t afraid to go against the grain as producer. The film ends with a hit of a sequel in the pipeline, and I really wish it gets made, for HIT as all the qualities to become a franchise.

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