In Arif Khan’s efficient U-Turn, the state of journalism in Chandigarh is as precarious as the state of law enforcement. U-Turn, which is out on ZEE5, stars Alaya F as Radhika, an intern at a newspaper who is doggedly pursuing a series of deaths caused by motorists taking a dangerous short-cut on a busy flyover.
What should have been a high-profile campaign for her employer is left to be solved by Radhika. For her troubles, the police make her the chief suspect in the latest death despite little evidence to support their suspicions.
Police officer Arjun (Priyanshu Painyuli) is the only one who believes Radhika. Battling guilt over her brother’s death and swatting away the distracting hunkiness of her colleague Aditya (Ashim Gulati), Radhika must decide whether malevolent spirits or villainous humans are at work.
U-Turn is an official remake of Pawan Kumar’s Kannada-language movie of the same name from 2016. Kumar cleverly mashed together a public safety message about responsible driving with a supernatural vengeance thriller.
The Hindi remake, written by Parvez Sheikh and Radhika Anand, makes a few welcome changes to the source material. Routinely performed and staged, U-Turn bumbles along on its gimmicky premise and the promise of smart twists at judiciously placed intervals.