Even turning a formulaic masala plot into a competent action entertainer takes a lot of work. While that fact might not register while watching most standard Sandalwood blockbusters, it hits home when you see a release like Seizer.
Seizer is the perfect example of a mediocre plot that suffers from even worse execution. It tells the story of Seizer (Chiranjeevi Sarja) who repossesses vehicles for a financier (Ravichandran) when the owners default on their loans. Along the way, Seizer tangles with a big-time gangster (Prakash Raj) who can’t take the affront to his reputation from such a small-timer and vows revenge. But there are also other gangsters getting murdered along the way. Is it just coincidence that has brought these figures together or is there more to the story?
There’s just not enough meat to this old-fashioned story of greed, masculine arrogance and revenge for director Vinay Krishna to fill an entire film. So, he tries to give us a look at the repo industry through the person of Seizer. Unfortunately, though the repo job largely seems to involve searching for the right car in parking lots and using a master key to open them when no one is looking. Occasionally, there’s a bit of bravado and a fight or two to handle along the way. Hardly the stuff of action blockbusters.
Not much of the rest of Seizer’s life makes too much cinematic sense either. There is a romance with Parul Yadav that proceeds in strange and abrupt encounters that give us no sense of why a woman would fall so hard for our hero. The comedy sequences involving Sadhu Kokila too struggle to earn more than a chuckle or two.
One of the basic problems of the film is the lack of effort going into plotting the story. So, the movie proceeds in fits and starts, with no clear markers for why something happens when it does. As a result, the audience spends the whole of the first half waiting for the story to go somewhere as various characters throw around punch dialogues. It’s only long after the interval that the story takes any shape at all, but stumbles to a finish before you’ve had the time to make any sense of it.
Lacking excitement in the story itself, the film tries to compensate with some predictably bombastic background music and songs, but falters here too.
Perhaps the only things to look forward to in the film are some of the scenes involving the veterans Prakash Raj and Ravichandran. But there’s just not enough energy in the story for these actors to play with. Chiranjeevi Sarja, on the other hand, is stone-faced in his portrayal of a one-dimensional character.
Unless you’re a hardcore fan of the actors or the genre, Seizer should probably just be given a miss.