Rathinirvedham review: "Focusses more on titillation than subject!!!"

"Old is Gold" is one of the most oft used proverb especially in the film industry. This proverb seems to have attained a status of being colloquial in the past few years, with the industry being flooded with sequels, prequels & remakes.  Invariably, this trend creates a great deal of responsibility & pressure on the shoulders of the younger generation who tries to live upto the standards set by the yester year greats. Incidentally, this week witnessed the release of "Rathinirvedham", which is the remake of the cult classic by the same name made by the legendary duo of Bharathan & Padmarajan. So will the remake be able to do justice to the classic???

The original was released around 30 years back when the society looked upon many sexual issues as taboo & having a relationship with a older female was one of them. In those days, it was definitely a path breaking subject; but with time it has become acceptable & much in vogue also nowadays. It might be due to this very same fact, that T.K Rajeev Kumar has based this movie in 1978. Pappu (Sreejith Vijay) is on the doorstep of adulthood & awaiting his pre-degree results. Just like any youngster, his raging hormones entices him to explore his sexuality. This eventually leads him to be infatuated with his sensuous yet older neighbour, Rathi (Shweta Menon). The plot then basically goes on to explore his advances & her corresponding response.

Padmarajan's script is no less than a master-piece as he had touched upon a topic at a time when it was cringed upon by the society. With a equally brilliant companion in Bharathan who expertly portrayed it onto the celluloid, it finally developed into one of the greatest movies of all time. Without doubt, T.K Rajeev Kumar who himself has some decent credentials with efforts like "Chanakyan", "Pavithram" etc., has taken upon a huge risk of remaking it. Frankly speaking, I wont deem his effort as worthless but nevertheless it wasnt able to capture the essence of the story also. The first half of the movie seemed to be more like a soft porn with the camera seemingly interested only on capturing the sensuous parts. As opposed to the original, where the scenes seemed to be more natural & in sync with the plot; here it seems the scenes were created first & accordingly the plot was lazily laced onto it. However, the second half could be considered to be a worthy comparison to the classic; with the climax from my perspective being much more impactful.

Among the present lot, in recent times Shweta Menon has come up with some laudable performances in "Palerimanikyam", "City of God" etc. & without doubt one of the boldest actresses as well. Considering these two aspects, there could be no argument that she was the rightful choice for essaying the title role. She has definitely performed well though in the initial sequences she seemed to be rather amateurish. To add to that being blessed with a voluptuous figure, Shweta Menon has used it to good effect & has overshadowed Jayabharathi's act to a certain extent. As for Sreejith Vijayan, who had a forgetful debut in Fazil's "Living Together", has done a decent job but wasnt able to impart the innocence & insecurity to the character as much as Krishnachandran. Coming to other technical aspects, the music by Jayachandran was note worthy though the choreography was suspect at times. The visuals by Manoj Pillai is going to create ripples in the theatres with his liberal focus on skin.

Verdict: Having created a huge hype, the film is going to have a thunderous opening at all centers with even the rains also unlikely to create a dent in the collections. With no huge stars & lots of oomph, this is going to be a run away hit within this weekend itself. In short, if you havent watched the original & like some titillation, then give it a try!!!

Regards...Ben