• Home
  • About Us
  • Submit Article
  • Contact Us
Indie Shorts Mag
  • Home
  • Interviews
  • News
    • Film Festival News
    • Short Film News
  • Reviews
    • Short Film
    • Documentary
    • Web Series
  • Hall of Fame
  • Short Film Festival – 2022Earlybird Deadline
  • Tutorials
    • Pre-Production
    • Post-Production
  • Short Film TVLive
  • Submit Short Film
    • Submit Short Film for Review
    • Submit Web Series for Review
No Result
View All Result
Indie Shorts Mag
  • Home
  • Interviews
  • News
    • Film Festival News
    • Short Film News
  • Reviews
    • Short Film
    • Documentary
    • Web Series
  • Hall of Fame
  • Short Film Festival – 2022Earlybird Deadline
  • Tutorials
    • Pre-Production
    • Post-Production
  • Short Film TVLive
  • Submit Short Film
    • Submit Short Film for Review
    • Submit Web Series for Review
No Result
View All Result
Indie Shorts Mag
No Result
View All Result

Oru Naal, Oru Aal: A Gripping Thriller-Whodunit Set During The Lockdown Times

Indie Shorts Mag Team by Indie Shorts Mag Team
03 Oct 2020
in Reviews
0
Oru Naal, Oru Aal - Tamil Short Film Review - Indie Shorts Mag

Global lockdown has exposed us to several novel techniques in filmmaking. From remote editing and directing, filmmakers have displayed resilient ways to complete their projects. It’s one thing to experiment with equipment and gadgets, quite another to make something meaningful out of it. To the credit of the cast and crew of Oru Naal, Oru Aal (which translates to One Day, One Time) the film surpasses viewers’ expectations as the narrative unfolds.

Five random strangers are introduced to us, in what might misleadingly seem like an anthology of sorts. With almost nothing in common except their native tongue, a digital blackmailer threatens to disclose all of their private details if they refuse to join a scheduled video conference. What binds these seemingly unrelated individuals to one another? What’s the common denominator? The unravelling of that mystery remains the central focus of this 18:46 minutes long film.

Oru Naal, Oru Aal - Tamil Short Film Review - Indie Shorts Mag

Too many films involving an ensemble cast fail at balancing the character dynamics and screen time. Oftentimes, characters are introduced only to push the narrative from the lead’s perspective. The genius of Oru Naal, Oru Aal is that all of them play the lead — surprise, surprise, even the unseen character is a lead. By bringing all the five actors together into a grid while keeping the blackmailer’s identity a secret, what the director-writer (Praveen) manages to achieve is to sustain the build-up and subsequent tension. It’s a puzzle that he invites us to solve, along with the characters, while not letting them break the fourth wall, even though they have all the reasons to do it. The plotline not only heightens its thrill by the second half, but also peaks with well-choreographed face-offs. As the characters begin to solve the mystery, the identity and intent of the caller still kept a secret, we realise that we too are, unwittingly, a witness to this whodunit.

MWnIGsE - Indie Shorts Mag
ADVERTISEMENT

Cinematographer Joyal Zacharia has very limited options to exercise, and yet he frames the scenes in a neatly edited (RDS Prasanth) sequence. The screen breaks into colour (or lack thereof), alternating between grainy textures and undiluted shades offering the narrative its fillip. Abubakkar M.’s music really gets the pulse of the film, initially misleading one into believing Oru Naal, Oru Aal, to be a comedy, which it isn’t — although it does have its moments of laughter, but at best, avoidable. The film has the potential for being an excellent thriller right from its opening shot.

Oru Naal, Oru Aal - Tamil Short Film Review - Indie Shorts Mag

Oru Naal, Oru Aal was filmed during the lockdown in India. Considering the final product, all the way from its conceptualization to post-production, it has certainly managed to hit the right notes. Reserving the spoilers, what can be disclosed is that Oru Naal, Oru Aal is the success story of Praveen. To have provided a watertight script to his actors only made matters easier for the cast to bring to the screen a thoroughly enjoyable thriller.

Who and what is the intent behind the blackmailer remains the quest in this short, but for a film as well-executed as this one, the question matters less, it’s the unravelling of it that matters more. 

#ShortFilmReview: Oru Naal, Oru Aal: Unravel the mystery digitally. Click To Tweet

Watch Oru Naal, Oru Aal Short Film

Oru Naal, Oru Aal: A Gripping Thriller-Whodunit Set During The Lockdown Times
  • Direction
  • Cinematography
  • Screenplay
  • Editing
  • Music
4.4
Tags: ReviewShort Film Reviews
Previous Post

Making films as an independent filmmaker is the best masterclass you can give yourself: Anthony Straeger

Next Post

Professional Cuddler: Hilarious Optimism, Great Chemistry, And Bold Visual Choices

Indie Shorts Mag Team

Indie Shorts Mag Team

Related Posts

Perfect - Short Film Review - Indie Shorts Mag
Reviews

Perfect: Finding Homegrown Love Through Home Trials

28th June 2022
Santi - Short Film Review - Indie Shorts Mag
Reviews

Santi: Grappling With Not Belonging

28th June 2022
Next Post
Professional Cuddler - Short Film Review - Indie Shorts Mag

Professional Cuddler: Hilarious Optimism, Great Chemistry, And Bold Visual Choices

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Featured Post

Announcing Indie Shorts Mag Short Film Festival(ISMSFF) 2022

Announcing Indie Shorts Mag Short Film Festival(ISMSFF) 2022

Sponsored

  • Recent Reviews
Facebook Twitter Instagram Pinterest Youtube Vimeo

About Indie Shorts Mag

Indie Shorts Mag is a publishing agency that works within the ‘short film circuit’. We review short films, documentaries, music videos and web series, amongst others. We stand out amongst the short film review sites for being multi-diverse & global in our platform and reach.
Our team works tirelessly to help promote, publicize and market your short films that deserve the shout-out! Besides reviews, we host film festival news as it’s a known fact that the film festival buzz is unmissable and we ensure you aren’t left behind!
We aspire to form a niche for ourselves as the ‘short film magazine’ that remains the hub for filmmakers & their audience.

Popular Topics

  • Announcements
  • Articles
  • Crowdfunding
  • Editorial
  • Film Festival News
  • Film Festivals
  • India Edition
  • Interviews
  • Marketing
  • Marketing
  • News
  • Online Premiere
  • Post-Production
  • Pre-Production
  • Reviews
  • Short Film
  • Short Film Competition
  • Short Film News
  • Tutorials
  • Web Series

Indie Shorts Mag on Instagram

Follow Us On Instagram

  • #ShortFilmReview: Perfect: The perfect partner is just a mail order away! Read our review. Link in bio.

#ShortFilm #Review #IndieFilmReview #FilmReview #SupportIndieFilm
  • #ShortFilmReview: Santi: Home is somewhere. Read our review. Link in bio.

#ShortFilm #Review #IndieFilmReview #FilmReview #SupportIndieFilm
  • #ShortFilmReview: The Atomic Spawn: Nuclear test results are coming home to roost. Read our review. Link in bio.

#ShortFilm #Review #IndieFilmReview #FilmReview #SupportIndieFilm
  • #ShortFilmReview: Allende: Shame is a deadly thing. Read our review. Link in bio.

#ShortFilm #Review #IndieFilmReview #FilmReview #SpportIndieFilm
  • #ShortFilmReview: Something Behind The Walls: Something is eating everything hollow. Read our review. Link in bio.

#ShortFilm #Review #IndieFilmReview #FilmReview #SupportIndieFilm
  • #ShortFilmReview: Sharing: It is a bittersweet thing. Read our review. Link in bio.

#ShortFilm #Review #IndieFilmReview #FilmReview #SupportIndieFilm
  • #ShortFilmReview: The Code Of Family: Age is the number of years of experience. Read our review. Link in bio.

#ShortFilm #Review #IndieFilmReview #FilmReview #SupportIndieFilm
  • #ShortFilmTrailer: Where’s Lilli? Is A Tale About Finding Inspiration & Conquering Fears

Read our review & watch the short, link in bio.

#ShortFilm #ShortFilmReview #SupportindieFilm #Trailer #FilmTrailer #ShortFilms
  • #ShortFilmTrailer: Last Dance: There 𝘮𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 be someone behind you.. 

Read our review & watch the short, link in bio.

#ShortFilm #ShortFilmReview #SupportindieFilm #Trailer #FilmTrailer #ShortFilms

© 2015-2022 Indie Shorts Mag.

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Interviews
  • News
    • Film Festival News
    • Short Film News
  • Reviews
    • Short Film
    • Documentary
    • Web Series
  • Hall of Fame
  • Short Film Festival – 2022
  • Tutorials
    • Pre-Production
    • Post-Production
  • Short Film TV
  • Submit Short Film
    • Submit Short Film for Review
    • Submit Web Series for Review

© 2015-2022 Indie Shorts Mag.