Despite Satyadev’s obvious brilliance, Zebra has been unable to help his recent films find an audience. If he wants to make an impression, he has to try action thrillers. “Zebra” is his most recent endeavour.
Both Surya (Satyadev) and his fiancée Swathi (Priya Bhavani Shankar) have jobs in the banking industry. Swathi gets herself into a jam because of a typo, but Surya uses his expertise to save the day.
His encounter with Adi, played by the formidable Daali Dhananjaya, a strong business broker, begins as an isolated event but quickly escalates into a web of interconnected problems.
Surya unknowingly causes the transfer of ₹5 crore from Adi’s account to another.
Adi assigns Surya a four-day time limit to transfer ₹5 crore to the bank account of Gupta (Sunil), an important participant in Adi’s significant business.
The authorities and his associates pressure Adi as he tries to finish the deal quickly.
Highlights of performances:
Playing the part of a regular, intelligent banker, Satyadev does a good job while keeping a tight expression.
With heroic debuts and exciting fight scenes, Daali Dhananjaya is just as prominent as Satyadev. He does a fantastic job with the part.
The talented actress’s performance as Priya Bhavani Shankar is underdeveloped and understated, diminishing the significance of her part.
Sunil delivers respectable villain work, and Satya injects lightheartedness into the story here and there. Unfortunately, Sathyaraj’s portrayal isn’t memorable enough to warrant a strong recommendation.
Superior Technical Ability:
You can tell the picture had a big budget just by looking at it. The picture looks professional and polished thanks to the photography, magnificent locations, and Ravi Basrur’s energetic score.
Analysis of ibomma
The exciting component of making thrillers about banking scams and financial frauds is making the scenario understandable. This film’s director, Eeshwar, famous for “Penguin,” opens with a confusing sequence because of all the banking jargon. After this long episode ends, the title card for the film finally shows.
To demonstrate Satyadev’s expertise in finance and technology, the presentation connects Sunil and Daali Dhananjay’s stories to a central issue. The audience knows that the film’s hero, Satyadev, is doing something smart, but they have no idea what he’s doing.
The difficulties emerge just as we are getting ready to tackle this topic. After the first hour, it becomes clear that the filmmaker is attempting to show off his cleverness by making the tale go on longer than needed by throwing in extra difficulties for the main character.
The director keeps conjuring scenarios to keep the plot going after a certain point, even though it’s clear the story has ended. Right up to the bank heist that sets the stage for the climax, the entire second half is dull.
Scenes involving the hero stealing from his bank vault and the events depicted in the second half are entertaining but feel forced and unnatural. Also, several filmmakers, particularly those from Tamil Nadu, have plagiarised the web series “Money Heist,” which appears to be a replica of this episode. Hence, it appears to be mundane.
In addition, we aren’t interested in Daali Dhanajaneya’s character or extensive backstory. Daali used to resemble the protagonist more than Satyadev did.
The Sathyaraj subplot exemplifies the director’s tendency to fill the film with pointless characters and story points.
“Zebra” is another thriller that gets off to a good start, keeps going strong for a bit, and then loses steam. By creating overly simplistic plot points and an abundance of confusing situations, the director fails to seize the chance to craft an insightful and suspenseful thriller.
Movie: Zebra
ibomma Rating: 2/5
Cast: Satya Dev, Daali Dhananjaya, Sathyaraj, Priya Bhavani Shankar, Sunil Verma, Sathya Akala, Jeniffer Piccinato and others
Additional screenplay: Yuva
Music: Ravi Basrur
DOP: Satya Ponmar
Editor: Anil Krish
Production Designer: N Chinna
Stunts: Rabin Subbu
Produced by: SN Reddy, Bala Sundaram, Dinesh Sundaram
Written and Directed by Eashvar Karthic
Release Date: November 22, 2024