Erida movie review: This wannabe thriller, starring Nasser and Samyuktha, is quite underwhelming

1.5/5

Story: A 60-year-old man, who is addicted to gambling, earns crores of money through betting and promises his young, beautiful wife that he would join her for dinner to celebrate the occasion. A cop who is aware of the illegal money goes to the sexagenarian's house and strikes a deal with his wife. Who is going to have the last laugh?

Review: VK Prakash has always been an unpredictable filmmaker with regard to the genre he experiments with and the quality of films he makes. He surprises you with incredible stories and characterizations, but disappoints you to the core in his next outing with his unusual experiments. Erida is the latest to join the list of his experiments that has gone horribly wrong. 

To begin with, it isn't fair to term the movie as an experiment because there is hardly anything new which we haven't experienced before. Releasing the film as a bilingual neither serves a purpose nor does it seem to have posed any challenge for the makers. 

Shankar Ganesh aka Shanky (Nasser), a sexagenarian who is addicted to gambling and Anu (Samyuktha Menon), a spirited girl are a newly-wed couple. The former's gambling partners, including Vijay (Hareesh Peradi) are jealous of him when he introduces his young wife to them. 

One day, the gambling team assembles in a hotel and Shanky is on the verge of losing a game with Vijay. With no option left, he pledges Anu, but eventually he wins the game, earning crores of money. He promises Anu that he would join her for dinner to celebrate his victory.

But little did Anu expect that she would have a guest at their luxurious home in the night when she anticipates Shanky to pick her up. Mathivanan, (Kishore) a cop who addresses himself as a 'frustrated police officer', is aware of the illegal money Shanky earns and seeks Anu's cooperation to nab him. 

Though Anu is initially intimidated with his presence, the tables turn suddenly and she strikes a deal with Mathi, thanks to the cop's convincing way of putting things across. There's trouble brewing at the home when a couple of other cops and Vijay arrive there with different purposes.

Though the plot looks okayish on paper with ample scope for edge-of-the-seat sequences, the screenplay falls flat after showing some promise in the initial scenes. Though there is a reason for the awful chemistry between the characters essayed by Nasser and Samyuktha, the story woven around their relationship seemed rather contrived. 

The role of an insecure person who is obsessed with gambling is a cakewalk for someone like Nasser, but the lack of enough detailing in his character acts as a hindrance for him to perform after a point. Samyuktha's character which has many layers is ineffectively written that we seldom empathize with her problems. 

Kishore, who sports a different look for his mysterious character, looks clueless at times and some of his scenes with Samyuktha test our patience. The last attempt to engage the viewers with twists and turns toward the end turns futile and we are left with no takeaway. Despite a run time of only two hours, the movie is a tad slow which does not boast of any element which keeps one hooked. The cinematography by Loganathan, however, stand out and background score by Abhijith isn't bad. 

Verdict: With only a handful of engaging sequences, the movie which has nothing new to offer is a tiresome watch.   

Erida is streaming on Amazon Prime Video.