First things first, to address the elephant in the room — _Evaru_ is an official Telugu adaptation of the Spanish crime thriller _Contratiempo (The Invisible Guest)_ , which was adapted in

Hindi as _Badla_ . If you haven’t seen both _The Invisible Guest_ and _Badla_ , then _Evaru_ can take you completely in its sway. Now the good thing is, even if you have seen either of those

two films, _Evaru_ has what it takes to keep you hooked with its key plot twists. That’s no mean feat. Leading up to the film’s release, the _Evaru_ team had been tight-lipped on the

adaptation and understandably so, to avoid comparisons and also because a few plot twists have been reworked. You may be able to gauge the broad character sketches of the key characters, but

Patchipulusu, to deliver just what’s required to elevate an interesting story, without drawing undue attention to themselves. The art direction and styling also complement the characters and

the setting. With _Evaru_ , Adivi Sesh adds yet another feather to his cap in being a part of projects that are not just interesting, but also trust the intelligence of the audience to not

spoon feed. He plays a supposedly corrupt cop called Vikram Vasudev, who is shrewd and smart but almost everything for him seems to revolve around money. He has the task of helping murder

accused Sameera (Regina Cassandra) find a way to rise above the challenge she would face in court. Sameera alleges rape as the reason for murdering police officer Ashok (Naveen Chandra).

She’s stoic and turns the questions back to the media at a press conference, when she discloses why she chose to talk about her predicament to the world. In a message to victims of rape, she

says ‘I am with you, I am you’. Evaru (Telugu) * Cast: Adivi Sesh, Regina Cassandra, Naveen Chandra * Direction: Venkat Ramji * Music: Sricharan Pakala When she shares her anecdote of

harassment with Vikram, he doesn’t show empathy. He simply moves to a discussion on what goes into making good coffee! What follows is a series of verbal duels during which key revelations

keep popping up and soon, both Vikram and Sameera aren’t what they seem to be. They are shape shifters. Adivi Sesh aces his part, walking that thin line between coming across as insensitive

and someone who is thinking two steps ahead in a larger gameplan. A quibble in this film has to be about the pace at which the verbal duel unfolds. The dialogues by Abburi Ravi are spot on,

but they are delivered in such a rush that I found it a little tough to savour them. The whole idea of a verbal tussle is that when you look back a little later, you should be able to

recollect a few smart moments and remember the cleverness of it all. That didn’t happen. However, as the story progresses, the film gets better and better and the pivotal twist at the end

and its emotional heft are a triumph. Regina gets a full-length role of substance after a long time and impresses in a part that requires her to be steely, vulnerable and scheming all at

once. Naveen Chandra’s is another earnest performance and it would be good to see him in more parts that leverage on his capabilities. Murali Sharma and Vinay Varma put forth credible

performances in brief parts, while Nihal Kodhaty is impressive as the young lad reflecting his determination to swim against the tide. The police constable Reddy, with his fun mannerisms and

lines, in a strange way reminded me of the constable Reddy from _Kshanam_ , whose face we never saw. Looking back, the film’s title as it appears in the credits also holds a clue. It’s a

normal way of marketing a film to an audience that has already warmed up to its lead actor who has built a credible name for himself. But there’s also something more. Published - August 15,

2019 11:18 am IST Read Comments Remove SEE ALL PRINT RELATED TOPICS Telugu cinema / reviews