Colour Yellow Productions and Bhanushali Studios Ltd.’s Tu Yaa Main (UA) is a survival drama.
Two young lovebirds go on a holiday to Goa. They get trapped in an empty swimming pool there, with a crocodile for company. Since the pool is deep, they can’t even come out of it. What’s worse is that there’s no help coming their way. Even as they are trying hard to escape, they realise that there are two crocodiles. Will they survive?
The film is an adaptation of The Pool, written by Ping Lumpraploeng. Himanshu Sharma’s adaptation of the story is both, interesting and engaging. Abhishek Arun Bandekar has penned a screenplay which doesn’t lose its grip on the audience. Although the first half is devoted to the friendship between the lower middle-class Flo and the ultra-rich Ms. Vanity, which by and by progresses into romance, the post-interval portion has nail-biting thrill with the entry of the crocodile. The drama becomes so chilling after the entry of the crocodile that the viewers often either miss a heartbeat or are at the edge of their seats. Also, the second half doesn’t give the viewers even a moment to think. Amidst the attempts to keep the crocodile at bay, the two lovers trying to escape from the empty — and later, a half-filled — pool makes for truly nerve-wracking viewing. Abhishek Arun Bandekar’s dialogues are fairly nice but should’ve been better.
Adarsh Gourav does a wonderful job as Flo, also known as Maruti Kadam. He gets into the skin of the character and has just the right amount of attitude required to play the lower middle-class Flo who is trying to become a social media star. Shanaya Kapoor, as very popular social media star Ms. Vanity (real name: Avani Shah), is natural and does justice to her character. She effectively balances her vanity with her vulnerability. Ansh Vikas Chopra makes his presence felt in the role of Fabric. Amrutha Srinivasan is fair as Avani’s sister, Tara. Rajat Kaul is okay as Avani’s brother-in-law, Vikram. Parul Gulati has her moments as Ms. Vanity’s manager, Lyra. Kshitee Jog leaves a fine mark as Maruti’s mother. Shrikant Mohan Yadav provides very nice support as police officer Tavde. Rajsi Anant Kinjalaskar is alright as Maruti’s sister, Sonali Kadam. Amruta Khanvilkar (as Sulochana), Sanjay Appan (as Jaggu), Ashok Kangude (as Pintya), Kannan Muthraj, Benjamin Yangal, Lil White, Saurabh Abhyankar, Arif Chaudhary, Driti Panchmatia (all six as Maruti’s friends), Aditi Jain (as Bindiya), Mahima Joshi (as young Avani), Parvathy Thiruvothu (as the guest in Konkan Bay), Vikram Dahiya (as the Chinese food delivery guy), and the other actors do as desired. The dog (Popo) is endearing.
Bejoy Nambiar’s direction is lovely. He enthrals the audience so beautifully that they become one with the two principal characters — Flo and Ms. Vanity. Music (Dhruv Visvanath for ‘Get your party started’; Sez On The Beat for Naam karu bada and Aala Flowpara; Chaitanya Pandit and Tushar Kunder for Mumbhai; Adarsh Gourav and Aditya N. for Jee liya; Raj Harrie for ‘Fame us’; Kataaksh and Aditya Bisht for Chandni; DRJ Sohail for Ramba; Kumaran Sivamani for ‘Dear darling’; and the old Bollywood hits) ought to have been much better. None of the new songs is memorable or even hummable. Lyrics (Dhruv Visvanath, Aebzee, 7 Bantaiz, Saurabh Abhyankar, Chaitanya Pandit, Tushar Kunder, Chakori Dwivedi, Mr. Scam, Bonz N Ribz, Crackpot, Yoku Big, Sid J, Rai Harrie, MC Notez, David Klyton, Nitesh Patel, Nishant Mohite, Aditya Vhatkar, Yogesh Kurme, Siddesh Jammi, Saras Menon and Gana Ulagam Dhara) are okay. Rohit Behal’s choreography is fair. Prateek Rajagopal’s background music is very effective. Remy Dalai’s cinematography is wonderful. Vikram Dahiya’s action and stunt scenes afford a lot of thrill. Pooja Palan’s production designing, and A. Arun Kumar’s art direction are of a fine standard. Priyank Prem Kumar’s editing is super-sharp. The animatronics crocodile looks ferocious.
On the whole, Tu Yaa Main is a very well-made film which chills and thrills. It deserves to do well at the box-office. However, its very slow start is disturbing and will definitely come in the way of realisation of its full potential.
Released on 13-2-’26 at Inox (daily 5 shows) and other cinemas of Bombay thru PVR Inox Pictures. Publicity & opening: dull. …….Also released all over. Opening was below the mark everywhere.
