Identity (2003)

Whats it about:
A criminal who has committed multiple homicides, Malcolm Rivers is about to be executed when his doctor and lawyer reopen his case for insanity. Then, a motel is shown on a rainy night. Many personalities are caught up in the motel by circumstance. Among them, a hooker, a young couple, a cop and his convict, an ex cop, an actress and a family of 3.
                    One by one, they are eliminated in strange circumstances. We come to know later that all the characters that are shown at the motel are actually Malcolm Rivers' multiple personalities. Slowly he is in the process of killing the personalities that are within himself. He is assigned to the state hospital. Just when we think that he is slowly getting to terms with himself, the violent side of his personality again takes over and the credits roll.

                                                                          

Hits

• Intriguing concept
• The rainy visuals at the motel are surreal and spooky  
• The actor who plays the troubled psycho Malcolm Rivers is A rate with his expressions of anguish and girth. 

Misses

• Once we come to know that the events at the motel are actually Malcolm's mind plays, the further scenes where the remaining personalities are killed aren't as intriguing as the initial murders when we suspect that there are actually multiple crime scenes taking place

VERDICT

Another intriguing psycho movie with Multiple Personality Syndrome as the theme. 

Nadunisi Naaygal (2011)

Whats it about:
The entire movie is in flashback mode narrated by a mental criminal Veera aka Samar. Samar, a young 8 yr old boy is subjected to sexual abuse by his father and his group of friends at their Bombay home. By the age of 13, he gets fed up and takes refuge at his neighbor Meenakshi's home.Meenakshi notices the shocking happenings at Samar's home and informs the police and also adopts Samar.
          Samar rechristened as Veera grows up in Meenakshi's home and by teenage starts developing feelings for his guardian. They make love on one fateful night and Samar also brutally wrecks Meenakshi's new marriage life by killing her husband and also causing a major fire ...
          Samar becomes a psycho due to his disturbed childhood, moves to Chennai, stalks girls online, kidnaps girls, brutally murders them, chops off their hair and renews his contacts with his school sweetheart Sukanya. All along we also see Meenakshi amma in a gory burnt up look living along with Samar in their Chennai farmhouse.
          As Samar is about to finish off Sukanya after a major struggle, the police get closer on his trail and we also get to know the truth behind Samar's wild instincts.  It is a combination of multiple personality disorder and hallucination. One SHOCKER indeed ...

                                                                        

Hits

• All the ingredients of a thriller are spot on. Terrific sound effects, rottweiler dogs, eerie lighting, class cinematography ... aesthetic sense written all over this Gautham product. 
• What a shocking genre bender from Gautham who usually is a director for the entire family.
• Terrific debut by Veera. Such a tough role as Veera-Samar-Meenakshi amma rolled into one ... Commendable 'Psycho' show
• Sameera as the traumatized Sukanya is adequate.
• The woman who acts as Meenakshi has a major role. Initially the caring mother like woman, later the gory burnt up avenger image ... Scary make up ... 
• The twist in the tale actually makes this product top notch and really international class. 
• A different message about male sexual abuse rather than the clichéd female sexual abuse. 

VERDICT

Just when you start thinking that Gautham is going overboard with the psycho acts performed by Samar and Meenakshi amma, he gives us a terrific shock that hits us like a bolt. A worthy tribute to all the hallucination and multiple personality based Holly classics ... DON'T MISS IT ...