U Turn

U Turn is a 2018 Indian supernatural thriller written and directed by Pawan Kumar. It stars Samantha, Aadhi Pinisetty, Bhumika Chawla and Rahul Ravindran. Filmed simultaneously in Telugu and Tamil, it remakes the director’s own 2016 Kannada film of the same name. Both versions were released on 13 September 2018, during Ganesh Chaturthi.

Story

Rachana, an intern at The Times of India, is writing an article about accidents on a city flyover. She finds that motorists move the concrete blocks dividing the road so they can make a quick illegal U-turn, leaving the blocks scattered and causing crashes. Using a list of vehicle numbers kept by a homeless man on the flyover, she sets out to confront the offenders. The story then turns to a string of deaths among those same motorists and an investigation by the intern and a police inspector.

Production

The film was made in both Telugu and Tamil to draw on Samantha’s popularity in both industries. Pawan Kumar, who directed the Kannada original, returned for the remake. It was his debut in both languages, and he rewrote the last 30 minutes. Srinivasa Chitturi and Rambabu Bandaru produced it under BR8 Creations, V. Y. Combines and Srinivasa Silver Screen. Shooting began in Rajahmundry in February 2018 and ended in June. Niketh Bommireddy was the cinematographer and Suresh Arumugam the editor.

Music

U Turn has no songs in the film itself. Poornachandra Tejaswi composed the background score. Anirudh Ravichander composed a separate promotional track, “The Karma Theme”, released in Telugu and Tamil on 5 September 2018 with a music video in which he and Samantha dance.

Release

The Telugu and Tamil versions were released together on 13 September 2018, during the Ganesh Chaturthi festival.

Reception

The Times of India gave both versions 3 out of 5. Its Tamil reviewer called it an interesting remake with plenty of twists but an unconvincing climax. Its Telugu reviewer praised the attention to detail but felt the pace suffered and that an engaging start gave way to a predictable, stretched second half.

Sources: Wikipedia and Wikidata.