A gripping tale of love, loss, and the dark side of newborn trafficking

Movie review: DNA

Cast: Atharvaa, Nimisha Sajayan, Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub, Balaji Sakthivel, Ramesh Thilak, Viji Chandrasekhar and Karunakaran

Director: Nelson Venkatesan

Rating: 8/10 

ANAND (Atharvaa) is a youngster drowning in his sorrows as a result of heartbreak and depression and his behaviour one day leads to him embarrassing himself and his family.

His father was not impressed by his son’s behaviour and alcoholism, prompting him to send him to a rehabilitation centre.

Divya (Nimisha) is diagnosed with borderline personality disorder, making it difficult for her family to get her married. Once Anand returns from the rehab centre, his father, fully knowing Divya’s condition, agrees to get her married to him without telling Anand her situation. However on the wedding day, when Anand finds out, he agrees to marry her and the couple lead a happy life.

Divya becomes pregnant and delivers their child. However, she suspects the child has been taken from her and swopped for another child, while those around her attribute this behaviour to her condition.

Anand becomes suspicious of the situation and believes Divya. With the help of Sub-Inspector Chinnasamy (Balaji Sakthivel), Anand goes in search of his newborn, uncovering a syndicate that has been running for many years.

Atharvaa, once again in a psychological thriller, delivers a great performance proving he is an under-rated actor that deserves more praise than he receives. He champions the romantic and action lead well.

Sajayan in her third Tamil movie outing, delivers her best performance, channeling a mother’s emotion and silent suffering well, while Sakthivel gave a realistic character performance.

The screenplay is well arranged and DNA keeps you well engaged from the  beginning. The movie highlights a key social issue and shocking reveal on how newborns are used as a business.

DNA also serves something fresh by having five music directors making up its album, each composing and singing their songs in the movie.

The film is available on Simply South. 

Darshni Pather is an RJ on Southside FM as co-host of the magazine show, Sunday Morning Spice, and hosts the Tamil Top 20.

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