7 Naatkal (Eng: 7 days) is a 2017 Tamil thriller film directed by Gautham.VR and produced by Million Dollar Movies. Shakthi, Nikesha Patel and Angana Roy feature in the leading roles, while Prabhu, Ganesh Venkatraman, Rajeev Pillai, M. S. Bhaskar and Nassar play supporting roles.
As the name suggests, 7 Naatkal is about a slew of things that happen over seven days. A whodunit, the plot starts off with the murder of Jennifer (Angana Roy), a ballet dancer. Thanks to a few evidences and assumptions, all fingers point to Siddharth (Rajeev Pillai), the son of Vijay Raghunath (Prabhu), a business tycoon. Vijay is worried over his son’s future as the latter’s engagement has been fixed. He seeks the help of his adopted son, Sai Prasad (Ganesh Venkatram), a crime branch officer. Prasad starts investigating the issue with the help of his assistant, Bhaskar (MS Bhaskar).
The investigation takes them to Gautham (Sakthivel Vasu), an RJ in a private FM station, and his neighbour Pooja (Nikesha Patel). Prasad is after a confidential DVD which was once possessed by Gautham’s friend, who is no more. Knowing that the DVD is with Pooja, the henchmen set by Prasad kidnap her and start following Gautham’s movements. Gautham, who gets a lead about Pooja from his pet Siberian Husky, Blackie, rescues her, and the two set out to solve the mystery of the case, with the help of Peter (Nasser), a former police officer.
7 Naatkal has its moments, especially in the first half, with a few light-hearted scenes which gradually build up to an engaging suspense drama. However, the second half involves sequences where the director takes his own time to establish connection between varied incidents and characters. A duet song, too, mars the flow. With a lot of drama, confusions and a not-so-surprising twist towards the end, the murder mystery is solved on the seventh day.
Sakthi is comfortable in a happy-go-lucky character, while Nikesha does her part well. Ganesh Venkatram and Rajeev Pillai manage to engage with their characterisations. Prabhu and Nasser are apt in their roles. MS Bhaskar, who impresses with his witty antics, gives a touching performance towards the end, in perhaps what could be called as one of the few impressive scenes in the film. The mediocre music and extended narration, make the flick a little tiring in the second half, which otherwise could have been an impressive attempt.
Directed by Gautham.VR
Produced by K. Karthik & K. Karthikeyan
Written by P. Vimal Kumar
Starring Shakthi Vasudevan, Ganesh Venkatraman, Prabhu, Nikesha Patel
Music by Vishal Chandrasekhar
Cinematography M. S. Prabhu
Edited by M. Jesvin Prabu
Production Million Dollar Movies
Release date June 2, 2017
Country India
Language Tamil
