FIR review: Vishnu Vishal’s film is a taut thriller with smart twists

Published

4 years ago

February 11, 2022

India

FIR review: Vishnu Vishal’s film is a taut thriller with smart twists

You rarely see a film with a Muslim protagonist made in a Tamil cinema. Debut producer Manu Anand’s largely engrossing thriller FIR delves into the way we view people in terms of race. What’s immediately pleasing about the film is that it doesn’t try to preach why it’s wrong to judge people on the basis of religion. Instead, it makes us feel the pain of the movie’s protagonist being a proud Indian.

Vishnu Vishal plays Irfan Ahmed, a chemical engineer from IIT Madras who works in a small company but has big dreams. For a long time, he has been interviewing for a dream job. One question that haunted him everywhere he went was – are you religious? Irfan lives with his mother who works in the police department. He has a group of close friends, a girlfriend who lives in another city.

As we trace the life of Irfan Ahmed, we also see a parallel story where an investigative agency is looking for a fearsome terrorist named Abubakar Abdullah who is apparently planning a massive terrorist attack. Gautham Menon, who heads the agency, is working closely with a team to arrest Abubakar Abdullah before he wreaks havoc. When Irfan is accidentally caught on a mission for Abdullah, his life is turned upside down.

FIR, from first-time writer-director, hits a solid punch. Not only does it manage to keep the script lively, but even with a dozen key characters, it’s consistently engaging. Unlike most Tamil movies, FIR isn’t hero-centric, and that’s what makes it refreshingly different. This is one of those films where each character plays a big role and holds the film together. Manu Anand’s understanding of how Indian investigative agencies work is impressive. The terrorist angle as a backdrop is another key aspect of the film that is rarely explored in Tamil films. Doing this skillfully and not overdoing it in the process makes FIR one of the better commercial films in the field.

Vishnu Vishal continues to support and pick films that get him out of his comfort zone. After a huge success with the psychopathic killer thriller Ratsasan (now in a Hindi remake of Akshay Kumar as Mission Cinderella), he pushed boundaries as an actor and producer in FIR. The film gave him plenty of room to show off his acting skills. As someone eager to prove his loyalty and innocence to his country, the actor’s performance is genuine.

One of the highlights of the movie is its female characters and how they’ve been used effectively. Raiza Wilson, Reba Monica John and Manjima Mohan have solid parts to play with each one of them getting at least one scene where they leave their mark. Raiza’s portrayal of a Muslim intelligence agent is particularly interesting. Filmmaker Gautham Menon, whose recent good stint as an actor, continues with FIR, in which he plays the chief of the intelligence agency – a character that fits him like a glove. Composer Aswath helps in elevating the tension of the story with his pulsating background score.

FIR has some smart, well-written twists for a thriller. As the twists untangle themselves in the end, the film feels more complete.

Film: FIR

Director: Manu Anand

Cast: Vishnu Vishal, Manjima Mohan, Reba Monica John, Raiza Wilson and Gautham Vasudev Menon

Complete News Source : Hindustan Times

Related Topics:FILM smart taut thriller twist Vishnu_vishal

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Amitabh Bachchan: The Heartbreaking Anxiety of Bollywood’s Greatest Icon

Published

6 days ago

June 19, 2026

Digital Post

Amitabh Bachchan: Candid Self-Doubt Confession

Even after five decades of cinematic dominance, Amitabh Bachchan still faces the quiet terrors of the midnight hour. The man who epitomised alpha-masculinity for generations of moviegoers recently made an unexpected confession that shocked his millions of admirers. He continues to have restless nights, locked in a vicious circle of intense self-doubt and crushing work stress.

This revelation is a huge wake-up call for anyone who thinks of him as an invincible acting colossus. It demonstrates that the heavy weight of perfectionism never fully fades, no matter how much celebrity you achieve.

The Haunting Midnight Echoes of Perfectionism

Imagine being a living legend and lying awake at 3 a.m. wondering if your previous performance was a complete failure. Bachchan admitted that he always repeats his sequences in his memory, haunted by the terrible feeling that they “could have been done better.”

This tremendous emotional sensitivity reveals a side of the megastar that the public has rarely seen. Onscreen, we witness the towering demeanour, booming baritone voice, and perfect delivery. But, behind closed doors, he suffers from the same paralysing fear that ordinary people face on a daily basis in the workplace.

Why the Deepest Passion Breeds Internal Chaos

You might ask why a man who has won every major film award is so concerned about delivering a single sentence. True genius is rarely characterised by serenity of mind. For Bachchan, acting is more than a job; it is a sacred, consuming fire that demands flawless excellence every time.

When you care so deeply about your craft, every creative endeavour feels like a high-stakes bet on your entire legacy. This tremendous artistic drive is a two-edged blade that produces amazing art while completely destroying your mental serenity.

The Heavy Price of an Enduring Legacy

Living under the microscope of the public eye for fifty years has a catastrophic psychological impact. Every move Amitabh Bachchan makes is immediately analysed, criticised, or worshipped by countless millions of people.

That amount of tremendous expectation establishes a distinct, invisible prison of performance anxiety. The dreadful anxiety of disappointing his big audience keeps his thoughts racing long after the cameras stop rolling. It turns out that the view from the very top of the mountain is extremely lonely and filled with perpetual emotional danger.

Normalizing the Silent Struggle with Mental Health

Bachchan has done an incredible amount to raise worldwide mental health awareness by publicly exposing his personal struggles with work stress. He has effectively removed the heavy veil of shame that typically surrounds the topic of anxiety, particularly among older generations.

If the ultimate “Angry Young Man” of Indian cinema can freely acknowledge to feeling inadequate, then everyone else has the right to be human as well. It is a welcome reminder that being overburdened by your commitments does not imply weakness.

The Relentless Creative Hunger That Never Sleeps

Finally, this severe self-doubt is the secret fuel that drives Amitabh Bachchan to labour continuously at an age when most people have retired. It’s a curious paradox: his severe inner agony serves as the driving reason behind his legendary longevity.

He refuses to rest on his past accomplishments or rely on his immense celebrity to get by. Every sleepless night reveals a man with the raw, eager heart of a novice. He remains gloriously, devastatingly uneasy about his work, which is precisely what makes him an everlasting force in film.

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