Murder and mayhem glorified
Locked, is an original thriller by Telugu OTT platform, Aha. It follows the inherent and eccentric tendencies of a neurosurgeon who goes on to create havoc in lives of innocent people.
Story
Dr Anand (Satyadev Kancharana) is a famous neurosurgeon who has the unique ability of successfully performing any complicated surgery giving a second chance at life to many patients.
Vaishnavi (Samyukta Hornad of G.O.D. fame) and Padmini (Sri Lakshmi) chance upon Dr. Anand’s house and decide to break in. Their choice of this particular house proves to be a life threatening blunder.
Dr Misbah (Keshav Deepak), an anaesthetist who is fed up of his wife Fatima (Bindu Pagidimarri) too lands up at Dr Anand’s place accompanied by Inspector Sivalingam (Vasu Inturi).
There ensues complete mayhem with Dr. Anand trying to hide some dark secrets. The unexpected guests turn him impatient and he is left with no other alternative except to show his true face while keeping all the intruders Locked inside.
Performances
It is Satyadev Kancharana who literally carries this series on his shoulders. It is because of him that Locked has some interesting moments. Even the performances of Sri Lakshmi and Hornad do not match up to him.
Only Bindu Pagidimarri and Vasu Inturi are able to pull off reasonably good performances, apparently due to importance of their characters.
Unfortunately, this is the last appearance of well known actor John Kottoly who passed away recently. He does well in the small role of Keshav who helps Dr Anand fulfil his evil desires.
Positives
The concept of director Pradeep Dev Kumar in conceiving the series with a Neurosurgeon as a central character is quite appreciable. How a man can go to any extent for the sake of name and fame is also shown in a remarkable manner by the director who is also the writer of this series.
Nijai Gowthaman’s low light cinematography is the saving grace of Locked and maintains some sense of engagement.
Negatives
The lopsided screenplay of Locked creates more ambiguity and confusion instead of providing answers. It fails to convey the main intent and motive behind Dr. Anand’s macabre deeds convincingly.
It is marketed as a thriller but fails to provide that edge of the seat experience. A fair amount of research with a well written screenplay could have helped Locked scrape through as a taut thriller.
Worth it?
Except for Satyadev Kancharana’s performance and some gut wrenching surgical procedures, there is nothing more in Locked to be hyped about.
