Sevenes review: "Youngsters make their presence felt !!!"

The Uthradam rushes are over & we are just a couple of hours away from the dawn of Thiruvonam. As one would expect, the streets & shops were jam packed with people making their last minute purchases. To add to the flavour of the season arrives Joshiy's latest flick "Sevenes". After having been at the helm of two high profile blockbusters "Twenty 20" & "Christian Brothers", Joshiy has now focussed his attention on the young turks of Malayalam industry. So can he conjure up a winner now without the mega stars???

It's a well known fact that apart from Bengal, Kerala is the only other state especially in the Malabar region where football still holds an upper hand as opposed to cricket. Joshiy has touched upon this very topic but half an hour into the movie, it takes an altogether different route. Shyam (Chackochan), Surej (Asif Ali), Shaukath (Nivin Pauly) & 4 others are a band of friends who made up one of the most impressive football lineups of Kozhikode strikers club. A case of mistaken identity leads them to assault an opponent player Aravindan (Vineeth Kumar), who eventually ends up with a severe life threatening concussion. Realising their folly & overcome with regret, they try to arrange the necessary amount for his surgery by taking up a quotation. But little did they realise, that it was just the beginning of a maze of problems!!!

Joshiy has surely come up with a decent movie which has its share of positives & negatives. Iqbal Kuttipuram who is credited with the script does manage to engage the audience, with the highlight being the interval session. Though the initial part of post interval, does manage to maintain the tempo; it however slackens of after a point of time. However I wont say that it bored the audience but it traced a very predictable climax. Another technical aspect which was impressive was the background score, which managed to create a sense of enthrallment at times. The music by Bijibal didnt have much to write home about while the visuals by Ajayan Vincent was fine.

In the performance department, all the youngsters have delivered an apt act. Chackochan being the senior most, naturally hogs the limelight more along with Asif Ali who happened to garner much of the audience's appreciation. Bhama & Rima Kallingal didnt have a role of substance other than lighten up the screen with their innocent smiles. Nadia Moidu was quite a class act while Maniyanpilla Raju was fine.

Verdict: The film should be able to break even owing to a decent story, lack of competition, absence of huge stars & Joshiy's reputation. In short, inspite of a predictable climax it doesnt hurt to give it a try!!!

Regards...Ben