Doctor movie review: This Sivakarthikeyan-starrer dark comedy is hilariously bizarre and entertaining

3.5/5

Story: A military doctor, who is rejected by her fiancée, leads a unique mission to rescue her niece from a notorious human trafficking gang in an unexpected circumstance. He seeks the help of her family members and a few local gangsters as well to take on the dangerous gang based out of Goa. Will they be able to save the girl?          

Review: Nelson Dilipkumar, who made the successful Kolamavu Kokila, with dark comedy as its genre, is at it again. With Doctor, he proves that he is not a one-film wonder. The film headlines someone like Sivakarthikeyan, who has a knack of making even a mediocre comedy scene entertaining, thanks to his comic timing and funny one-liners. But Nelson hasn't relied only on the protagonist. Yogi Babu, Redin Kingsley and Arun Alexander, who were seen in impressive roles in the director's previous project, get meaty characters this time, too. 

Varun (Sivakarthikeyan) is a stoic military doctor who looks at every challenge in a practical manner. He is disciplined, focused and straight-forward. But it's because of his honest nature that Padmini (Priyanka Arul Mohan), his fiancée, rejects him. She also finds him boring and too calculative. 

When they are on the verge of separation, Varun gets to know that Padmini's niece, a school-going teenage girl, is missing. After lackadaisical response from the cops, Varun and Padmini's family members set out to investigate the missing case. Soon they realize that the girl has been kidnapped and that a big human trafficking network is behind it.  

They nab each and every criminal who are associated with the kidnap and manage to find the whereabouts of Terry (Vinay Rai), who runs the human trafficking nexus from Goa. Varun and her fiancée's family members hatch a plan which looks bizarre with the help of a cop and a few local gangsters to rescue the girl from Goa. 

However, Varun slowly realizes that he needs to crack a lot of challenges which reminds us of different levels in video games. Will he be able to destroy the dreaded gang lead by the dangerous Terry? ​

The prime positive aspect of the movie is the way several scenes, which might appear outlandish on paper, are neatly executed. If the main plot itself has confusing elements, the wafer-thin sub-plots appear even more likely to fizzle. However, the clever writing, aided by hilarious performances by Yogi Babu and Redin Kingsley, ensures that the viewers could have an edge-of-the-seat experience. 

Unlike his regular outings, Sivakarthikeyan emotes in a subtle way, something which is out of his comfort zone. Yet, he manages to deliver what is required from the character. What is more interesting is that the antagonist essayed by Vinay Rai, too, comes up with a subtle performance.       

Their combination scenes are one of the many highlights in the movie. Vijay Kartik Kannan's cinematography and Anirudh's background score elevate the mood in several scenes and help transport the viewers to the partly funny and partly serious world which Nelson has intriguingly created. 

On the down side, the female lead, essayed by Priyanka, who gets a promising start, dissipates as the story progresses. Deepa Shankar and Archana Chandhoke get even more substantial roles in emotional and funny scenes. Raghu Ram and Rajiv Lakshman as the twin kidnappers, too, play their part convincingly. Though the slow-paced presentation makes the dark comedy effective in certain scenes, there are a few instances where it could have been avoided.        

Verdict: Sivakarthikeyan's underplayed performance and innovative screenplay make Doctor a compelling watch for those who love dark comedies.   

Doctor is streaming on Netflix and Sun NXT.