Check cast: Nithiin, Rakul Preet, Priya Prakash Varrier, Sai Chand
Check director: Chandra Sekhar Yeleti

Director Chandra Sekhar Yeleti has always been open to experimentation, tackling subjects that are ahead of their time, and his new release Check is no different.

With Nithiin, Rakul Preet, Priya Prakash Varrier, and Sai Chand in the leading roles, Check narrates the story of a conman Adithya (Nithiin) who is convicted and sentenced to death for his involvement in a terror attack. He, however, claims to be innocent. He finds redemption in chess inside the prison. Despite his many attempts to prove his innocence, it all comes to nought a number of times. How destiny plays hide-and-seek with Adithya forms the crux of the story.

Check revolves around two subplots – while one runs along the lines of the cult hit The Shawshank Redemption, the other focuses on how Adithya becomes a chess grandmaster. Characters such as the lawyer Manasa (Rakul Preet Singh), Guruji (Sai Chand), and Yathra (Priya Prakash Varrier) add heft to these twin stories. Sai Chand wins maximum plaudits for his performance while Rakul Preet eschews make-up to play a woman intent on her job. Priya Prakash also packs a punch but her character is limited in scope.

For Nithiin, Check is a welcome change from his routine masala dramas. He delivers a consistent performance as a man who is intent to fight his imprisonment. If the film mints money at the box office, it will give Nithiin an opportunity to look at interesting content. However, he should be careful that the content he makes should be original.

Because Chandra Sekhar Yeleti’s idea of Check looks novel, but by the end of the movie, it gives you an impression that you are watching the desi version of The Shawshank Redemption. And, it is going to be a bummer for the urban moviegoers. It also fails in the background music department as Kalyani Malik’s music fails to rise to the demands of the screenplay.

On the whole, Check is just average fare.