I will say it plainly: after the first look for OM – Chapter 1: Udhiram – The Blood Wood, I am more interested in what it refuses to show than what it reveals. Directed by Rajkumar Periasamy and backed by Wunderbar Films, the film brings Dhanush, Mammootty, Sai Pallavi and Sreeleela together for what is shaping up as a pan-Indian action drama, slated for 2026. The latest character glimpse introduces Sai Pallavi as Nithya Reddy, and it wastes no time making her feel like the film’s centre of gravity.
The first look promises an intense, massy thriller. Nithya is not written as a generic officer: she has served as an Assistant Superintendent of Police, then been inducted into the CBI as an Additional SP to work with Interpol. That is a lot of credibility to pack into a character reveal, and it tells you the film wants us to take her authority seriously. What the glimpse holds back is equally deliberate. We know she is leading an investigation into a “crime against nature”, and that the operation is named OM. We know the case connects to “Red Moon” and to Andhra Pradesh’s red gold. But we do not know the actual crime, Dhanush’s exact place in the investigation, or how Mammootty and Sreeleela fit into the larger design.
The one moment everyone will talk about is the title-drop: Nithya taking charge of the operation called OM. It turns a character introduction into the film’s central mystery, and it gives the franchise a reason to feel bigger than any one star. Sai Abhyankkar’s score underlines the mood without overselling it, and the glimpse gives just enough of Sai Pallavi and Dhanush together to suggest their equation will matter without revealing what it is.
For Sai Pallavi, this lands differently. She has built her reputation on emotionally grounded performances, and OM pushes her into a harder, more procedural action register. If the film works, it broadens her range without discarding the intensity fans already trust. For Wunderbar Films and Dhanush, this is a big-canvas move: a multi-star action drama with action choreography by Yannick Ben and Kecha Khamphakdee, and a story that seems designed to travel across Tamil, Telugu and Hindi audiences.
So does it look worth the ticket? On this evidence, yes. The first look does not reveal enough to guarantee the film, but it builds exactly the right kind of pressure: a capable officer, a case with mythic overtones, and a mystery that stays mostly in the dark. If the rest of OM holds that nerve, this could be the rare action drama that asks us to think before it explodes.
Watch the original: Panorama Music and First Ray Films on YouTube
Source: The Times of India
