Team FC
And the latest film to dramatise the murky side of the medical world is Samantha’s Yashoda. The thriller, which is slated to hit the screens on November 11, digs deep into a surrogacy racket that exploits women who rent out their wombs. Samantha plays the titular Yashoda, a surrogate who is admitted at Eva, a plush medical institution that hires surrogate mothers in exchange for a huge sum of money. But when a pregnant woman goes missing, Yashoda unearths a dirty secret and decides to fight back.
Anasuya (2007)
Streaming On: Zee5
There is no bigger danger than an evil doctor who is on the hunt for organs. Anasuya, a journalist, finds out that a murderer is on a killing spree to harvest organs. But the killer has a signature move – he leaves behind a red rose with every murder. While the pattern continues to follow eerily, Anasuya rushes to save the killer’s targets.
Kuttram 23
Streaming On: Zee5 and Hotstar
Most of the initial scenes in Kuttram 23 are centred around Assistant Commissioner Vetrimaaran’s (Arun Vijay) family, and if you sense danger, you are not wrong. All that appear as irrelevant details — his sister-in-law’s pregnancy, her IVF treatment, and the murders of a pregnant woman and a priest — find meaning as the film progresses.
Mersal
Streaming On: Netflix, Zee5, Disney+ Hotstar
Have you ever wondered how the caesarean section took over normal delivery as a more common practice? Well, Mersal gives us a dark and dramatised cautionary tale about the same.
Joseph (2018)
Streaming On: Amazon Prime Video
Joseph, which won the National Film Award (Special Mention), has a brilliant Joju George steering its narrative. Joseph, an alcoholic, retired police officer with a sharp eye for evidence, is shocked when his ex-wife is declared brain dead after an accident.
Agent Sai Srinivasa Athreya (2019)
Streaming On: Amazon Prime Video
Like all detective thrillers, you see Agent Sai Srinivasa Athreya walk around in coats and hats, and solve crimes like a pro. Sometimes you feel like the film gives seemingly unnecessary details like Athreya not being able to do the funeral rites of his mother.
Forensic (2020)
Streaming On: Netflix
Cops getting entangled in medical crime cases have become formulaic in films now. But Forensic adds to the tested genre, the intricacies of forensics.
A: Ad Infinitum (2021)
Streaming On: Amazon Prime Video
“Science demands sacrifice,” the film tells us. Maybe it refers to the audience’s sacrifice of logic and maybe science itself. Centred around the illegal testing of genetics and de-aging, the film follows an amnesiac man trying to discover his identity.
Nirnayam (1995)
Streaming On: Amazon Prime Video
This 1995 crime thriller introduces the concept of organ smuggling early on in the film. When Dr. Annie is murdered in her hospital, it is not because her organs are suspected to be trafficked, but because she has discovered a kidney scam in her hospital.
Teddy
Streaming On: Disney+ Hotstar
If organ trafficking was the norm that medical thrillers have usually explored, Teddy took this trope to the next level. Imagine going on a college trip and visiting a nearby hospital for a minor injury, only never to return.
Thani Oruvan
Thani Oruvan, which saw a duel between Jayam Ravi and Arvind Swamy, is famous for multiple reasons. This film is set against the typical good guy vs. bad guy format within which a medical crime drama ensues.