Sketch movie review: Largely relies on Vikram's screen presence and the versatility

Director: Vijay Chander

Cast: Vikram, Tamannah, Hareesh Peradi, Baburaj

Vikram in the titular role Sketch aka Jeeva is a collection agent for a local thug Sait (Hareesh Peradi) and his main job is to seize vehicles, when people who have borrowed money from Sait did not pay the installments properly. Though he has a family comprising of father (Vela Ramamoorthy), mother and an educated brother, Sketch spends most of his time in the company of his three friends Kumar, Bhaskar (Sreeman) and Guna (Vishwanth) who are his colleagues. One day while Sketch is in the process of seizing a vehicle, he comes across a pretty girl Ammu (Tamannah) and the inevitable happens. Yes, love at first sight. Ammu, who belongs to a Brahmin family, did not heed to his advances as she thinks he is a thug. Later when she comes to know of his good nature, she starts reciprocating. Also, she claims that he is the man of her dreams.

Meanwhile, when all seems well, Sait challenges Sketch to grab the vintage fiat car of one dreaded gangster Royapuram Kumar (Baburaj) as it once belonged to his father. Apparently, Kumar considers it as a priced possession. Without any hesitation, Sketch agrees to do the job. But what follows post his mission is the ghastly murders of his friends one by one. Now, a furious Sketch wants to take revenge on the culprit who is behind his friends’ death. But fate has something else in store for him and the film ends with a riveting climax.

The plot actually takes time to open up and the film largely relies on Vikram’s screen presence and the versatility. He doesn’t disappoint (despite a story as old as a hill) – Vikram does a perfect job of a North Madras guy, be it his body language, dialogue delivery especially the oft-repeated punch line ‘Sketch Sketch Panna Sketch Miss Aavaadhu’ with aplomb. Tamannah fulfills what is expected out of her – to give visual relief. The actress looks homely in normal scenes and adds glamour in songs. All others like Aruldoss, Hareesh Peradi, Sreeman and R.K. Suresh do their parts well. Soori is wasted in a cameo role. Vijay Chander could have concentrated more on a coherent screenplay. Also, there’s no justification for Vikram choosing this profession despite hailing from a decent family. Action sequences especially the one in the pre interval scene is fabulous. Thaman’s songs are peppy and hummable but their placements leave much to be desired. He also elevates the film’s pace with his rerecording.