Rekha review: Vincy Aloshious, Unni Lalu elevate a formulaic, yet absorbing revenge drama

3/5

Story:

A young woman named Rekha finds herself enamoured with a man in her locality named Arjun. The two seem to head over heels in love with each other, until an unspeakable tragedy takes hold of the former’s life. Grappling with the tragedy and the betrayal from the man she thought was the love of her life, Rekha decides to exact revenge.

Review:

A revenge drama with a female victim and male perpetrator is not exactly a novel concept when it comes to revenge dramas. By virtue of its story alone, Rekha does not offer anything in terms of novelty. But through the performances of the lead cast and the way the story is told, Rekha manages to hold its own among the plethora of run of the mill revenge dramas viewers have their pick of today.

The film starts off with the age-old tale of young love destined for doom, featuring Vincy Aloshious’ Rekha and Unni Lalu’s Arjun. While Rekha is naive and wary of getting too carried away, Arjun is all charm as he manipulates his way into making Rekha get her guard down. As is the case with these tales, things go horribly wrong for Rekha, and she finds herself disconcerted by a tragedy that upends her life. But not one to stay down, she decides to avenge the injustices done to her, no matter the cost.

Although Rekha’s plot forms on the basic, predictable framework viewers familiar with the genre can easily predict through, the way the story is told is done in a way that does a fair job at keeping one engrossed. Jithin Issac Thomas’ direction and the writing tries to keep Rekha from going down the familiar route as the story progresses, adding more and more layers to the same once it gets past its slow paced first half.

But the performances of the lead stars are definitely one of the biggest factors contributing to the film’s intrigue. Both Vincy and Unni do a fantastic job at fleshing out their roles in a way that both their characters leave an impact on the viewer, despite being on opposite ends of the spectrum. Rekha’s initial naivete, and her intense transformation, that pivots between stoic and maniacal, is perfectly captured by Vincy. The way Unni slowly peels back the layers of his character, slowly and with precision, to present just how different Arjun is compared to what he shows the world, is a treat to watch. The haunting cinematography and music also do a splendid job at keeping the atmosphere of the film charged.

Verdict:

Despite its predictable plot, what makes Rekha stand apart from run of the mill revenge dramas is the way the story is told, through its writing and direction. The well fleshed out characters are enacted brilliantly by Vincy Aloshious and Unni Lalu, who complement each other beautifully and do justice to their roles in every way.