ZEE5 Original Film Bhinna Review: The Psychological Thriller Is A Mind Bender At Its Best

Director Adarsh Eshwarappa’s second venture, the first-ever Kannada ZEE5 Original film, Bhinna, is one of those rare gems that makes its debut directly onto an OTT platform rather than being released in theatres. While directors nowadays are aiming for a big-budget film with an expensive star cast, here’s a filmmaker who has proved that content is king and you don’t always need leading actors to drive a movie. What matters is the story and how well it has been presented.

During an EXCLUSIVE interview with us, Adarsh mentioned that he is yet to work with big-league actors. For now, he is extremely happy with his cast with whom he collaborated not only for his 2017 debut film Shuddhi but also for Bhinna. 

Paayal Radhakrishna as Kaveri/Devaki, Shashank Purushottam as Mohan, Sidhaartha Maadhyamika as Sathish and Sowmya Jagamurthy as Vimala star in the psychological thriller. The movie begins with Sathish pleading with his wife Kaveri, who has locked herself inside the bathroom, about not doing anything stupid. Inside, Kaveri is seen holding a knife in her hand and is about to stab herself.

Watch the movie Headhunters online on ZEE5 in HD.

Initially, you might think that Kaveri is suicidal because of her husband but while that may be the case, Bhinna is so much more than that. Soon, you get to see flashbacks of these four characters, Kaveri, Sathish, and their friends Mohan and Vimala, who are a married couple too.

A few instances in the film might make you wonder what is happening because of the way the director has kept parallel stories that are actually a part of Kaveri’s mind frame. Now let’s retrace the story. Kaveri, a budding actress, gets a script for her next film and nothing seems amiss to her husband Satish when she informs him that she is going on a solo road trip to get a deeper understanding of the characters and her role in the film.

Soon, the shocking truths of two marital affairs come to light. Yes! This is the third parallel plot of the story that you need to keep in mind while watching Bhinna. As Kaveri continues to read the script, she realises that each character in it represents one person from her real life. The lead that she plays is of a murderous lady, who avenges the affair her husband is having by killing him and her friends.

Now the main question that comes to mind is whether her experiences are true or it is just some kind of hallucination? As Kaveri tries to unearth the truth behind whether all this is really going on in her head, she falls deeper into the pit of schizophrenia, one of the lesser-spoken mental conditions that many humans face on a daily basis.

The end of the film definitely leaves you with the feeling of wanting more, especially when Kaveri looks at you and says, “Can you feel it? There is a storm coming.”

Talking about the cast, the director has ensured that the actors fit the bill. For example, Shashank was given the role of a modern man who speaks a mix of languages while Sidhaartha played a pukka Kannada speaking man who is uncomfortable conversing in English. Actress Sowmya, meanwhile,portrayed a liberated wife.

Verdict: You will need to watch the film more than once and with an extremely good set of earphones to understand and fully enjoy this classic psychological thriller!

Watch the ZEE5 Original Series, Auto Shankar, available now in Kannada.