U-Turn Movie Review: Alaya F's Remake of Supernatural Thriller Falls Apart When It Takes a 'U-Turn' From the Original (LatestLY Exclusive)

U-Turn Movie Review: U-Turn, the Kannada film starring Shraddha Srinath that came out in 2016, hold the record for being one of the most remade Indian films, with the most popular remake being in Tamil-Telugu with the same name and starring Samantha Ruth Prabhu in the lead. Now we have a Hindi remake again with the same name, and this time starring Alaya F as the protagonist. The surprise twist here is unlike Samantha's version, Alaya F's remake is not a very faithful remake and takes its own deviations with the mystery. Whether those deviations make this U-Turn a better remake... ah well, that's another twist of its own. Alaya F Feels Women Still Have a Long Way to Go for Great Opportunities!

This U-Turn, directed by Arif Khan, begins with an accident in Chandigarh caused by an irresponsible bike-rider who removed the concrete slabs of the divider of a flyover for a convenient u-turn. The displaced slabs make another incoming vehicle to go turtle and crash, presumably killing its occupant(s).

We then move ahead in time and meet Radhika (Alaya F), a journalist working at a newspaper, who is doing a story on the motorists who removes slabs for taking u-turn on the same flyover. There is a personal connect she has with the story that is revealed later. Radhika also has a romantic interest in her colleague Adithya (Aashim Gulati), who reciprocates, but her no-strings attached attitude towards relationships doesn't develop their relationship into anything further.

One night, Radhika is taken in by police for questioning when a flyover culprit she was supposed to question ends up mysteriously dead, apparently by suicide. When the police, led by Arjun (Priyanshu Painyuli), decide to look into the other culprits whose vehicle numbers Radhika has with her, they find that even they are also dead, again apparently by suicide. While Radhika insists that she is innocent of their deaths, the police gets baffled when one of the victims dies in front of them.

So who is killing them? Are they all suicides connected by a weird coincidence? Is it a handiwork of a supernatural entity? Or is a serial killer behind all these and Radhika has a hand in it?

Watch the Trailer of U-Turn:

Before I get ahead with the review, let me warn you that I might discuss some SPOILERS in here. 'Cos without dissecting those SPOILERS, I cannot explain why this U-Turn remake didn't work for me.

Positive things first, the Hindi remake is engaging and interesting when it sticks closer to the original. The whole mystery angle, the investigation portions and the sequences at the police station, especially once Arjun arrives, do hold your attention. The amalgamation of spookiness and the mystery, that worked for the original film, is also where this U-Turn also shines the best.

The horror scenes, on the other hand, does a very passable job of frightening you using old tropes like creaking doors that open automatically or by jump scares inspired from email forwards with pictures where a ghost jumps out towards frame with a screeching noise.

The real test of the Hindi remake comes when it takes a major deviation from the original. It is a totally bold move narration-wise, and I like what it intended to do here. But intentions don't work always in the favour if not backed by good execution and sensible writing. Here's where the SPOILER-ish warning of my review kicks in. The remake deviates when it sidelines the supernatural aspect of the original to go for a more 'logical' approach. However, when the 'reveal' is made as to who is behind the killings and the modus operandus is revealed is where the remake begins to fall apart. Since the movie wants to use 'logic', you are also forced to use yours.

So then I began to question why Radhika begins to experience her supernatural episode mid-way into the film when that was not supposed to happen to her going by the climactic reveal. Maybe it was her psychosis kicking in, but then why did she hear stuff that some of the other victims were also hearing? Or why was that homeless man acting so weirdly towards Radhika when she meets him for the last time? One of the main characters is shown having a connection to the accident in the first scene, which is revealed somewhere before the third act. But then the final scene of the film shows it as some kind of big TWIST, which doesn't work that way.

It's that the writing in these portions is where the film falters majorly, where it could not justify the deviation with the sequences that came before. The intention was totally right; smarter writing, editing and direction could have saved the day here, sadly, which is not the case.

Performance-wise, Alaya  is decent. Priyanshu Painyuli is striking as the copm while Aashim Gulati is okay as Radhika's enamoured colleague. Rajesh Sharma and Manu Rishi Chadha do their parts well.

Final Thoughts

This remake of U-Turn works in parts. The parts that work are the ones where it sticks closer to the original; parts that don't are the ones where it takes a u-turn from the original in trying to make its own twists and turns. Laudable idea indeed, but the writing makes little sense to make them work. U-Turn is streaming on Zee5.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Apr 28, 2023 12:07 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).