'Sebastian P.C. 524' hits the cinemas this Friday (March 4). Siddha Reddy B, Raju and Pramod have produced it on Jovitha Cinemas.
Story
Sebastian (Kiran Abbavaram) suffers from night blindness. His mother (Rohini) makes numerous sacrifices so he lands a job in the police department as a constable. Because of a promise made to his beloved mother, Seba keeps the truth about his physical handicap a secret in the police department. When he is tasked with guarding a crime scene, Seba must not only swim past his limitations but also use his intelligence/instincts.
Performances
Kiran played a mainstream and glamourized role in 'SR Kalyanamandapam' last year. In the film under review, he attempts a relatively non-glamorous role that has him try comedy and mild intensity. He shoulders the responsibility with reasonable confidence.
Nuveksha needs to show betterment; she looks unconvincing for the role of a young girl who may well be a tough nut to crack. Komalee Prasad, who has hitherto done forgettable characters, gets to play an old-fashioned role.
Srikanth Iyyangar as the male lead's boss is over-the-top, while Rohini is gloomy and melodramatic. Surya plays a doctor, while Adarsh Balakrishna has a funnily caricaturish role. Raja Vikram plays a young man who is in love with Komalee's character.
Technical aspects
Raj K Nalli's cinematography is a total misfire. The frames are too glaring because of the vexatious use of lighting. Viplav Nyshadam's editing is jarring, made worse by the hurried nature of the screenplay.
Ghibran's BGM is hugely distracting. The scenes get unnecessarily noisy because of the score. 'Heli', sung by Kapil Kapilan, needed better visualization. The placement of 'Seba Transfer', sung by Padmalatha, is alright.
Analysis
The film was touted to be a comedy thriller. The situational comedy in the first half is entirely one-note. There is nothing beyond the repetitive comedy around Sebastian's night blindness. The characterization warranted a solid comedy of errors. What we get is a set of monotonous scenes that are either too brief or haphazardly positioned.
The male lead's defect (read night blindness) becomes irrelevant in the second half. In the first half, Sebastian's identity is reduced to his defect and the unsympathetic, uncreative dialogues make it too obvious way too often.
The male lead is a constable who is inept but sincere-minded. Everyone around him in the police department is either too frivolous or too annoying. Sebastian's sidekick exists so that one or two bedroom 'jokes' can be cracked.
Till before the last 20 minutes or so, even the male lead doesn't behave like the stakes are high for him. The late mother is dead but she is 'alive' for all practical purposes. This is an annoyingly outdated trope.
Sebastian gets repeatedly transferred but his current boss apparently doesn't ask why. If only he used his commonsense, he wouldn't have blundered along with Sebastian in tow. If you don't focus on the first 5 minutes and also don't go informed about the actors and their names, chances are that you will struggle to figure out what is going on in some of the crucial moments.
Closing Remarks
'Sebastian' is a lackluster murder mystery that has many loose ends.
