Akkenam

Akkenam Movie Synopsis: When a cab driver, an ex-convict, and a criminal come into contact, a chain of events puts all their lives in jeopardy.

Akkenam Movie Review: Though Akkenam primarily revolves around three characters — played by Keerthi Pandiyan, Arun Pandian, and Adithya Shivpink — it’s only Keerthi who ends up getting a fully fleshed-out character as Indhira. Indhira is a cab driver who lives with an elderly woman and a young child. While it would have been convenient to make them her mother and daughter, the makers opt for a more layered dynamic that shows how much thought they have put into developing her character. Even the pro-woman dialogues feel authentic and don’t come across as having been added merely for ornamentation. That’s what makes it all the more confusing as to why the same attention to character development is not extended to the other two protagonists.

Arun Pandian’s Pandian is supposed to be a ruthless gangster, but the choice to barely give him any dialogue in the first half and only reveal his backstory in the second half weakens his impact. This particular narrative choice might have been intended to keep the audience guessing about the character’s real intention, but it ends up making him seem lost and clueless. And the less said about Adithya Shivpink’s tech-savvy antagonist, the better. He is meant to be a tech genius who uses advanced methods to kill his opponents, but these scenes are so amateurish that it’s hard to take them seriously.

The film delays bringing together Indhira and Pandian onscreen, but when it does happen, the moment hardly registers and feels rushed. The unnecessarily loud background music attempts to elevate scenes but falls flat in doing so. As for the acting, Namritha MV and Praveen Raja make a mark even with their limited screentime. Meanwhile, the reliable actors who are part of the supporting cast do what’s needed. Even though Keerthi Pandiyan has a well-written character at her disposal, she fails to deliver a noteworthy performance. Irrespective of whether she is angry or scared, the actress’s dialogue delivery and expressions are pretty much always the same. Arun Pandian and Adithya Shivpink also fail to leave an impression.

Akkenam attempts to build a layered narrative, but it is diluted by the lack of character depth, amateurish staging, and no real payoff. Therefore, the film ends up being uneven and emotionally distant.