Tuesday, January 22, 2013

Annayum Rasoolum review:"Slow realistic love story!!!"

If one has noticed the Tamil films in recent times, there is an exodus of numerous small budget ventures with its premises based on hard hitting realistic stuff. Even our Malayalam industry is slowly waking up to the fact that the audience needs variety & originality. If I have to choose one actor who takes up such subjects, then it has to be Fahad Fazil who has been going from strength to strength with each passing film. With numerous films in his kitty, he kicks off the year with "Annayum Rasoolum" which seems to be promising.


Rasool (Fahad Fazil) is just like any other taxi-driver who motors along the roads of Cochin for a living & makes merry with his buddies which at times borders on insanity. It is during one such tumultuous night that Rasool almost runs over Anna (Andrea Jeremiah). But even in that freak second, his eyes gets locked onto her & as if by destiny meets up with her yet again on a similar crazy day. Since then Rasool starts following Anna everywhere without ever enforcing his presence onto her. His longing gaze & sheepish smiles spoke volumes of his feelings for her but it was always reciprocated with a blank expression. In due time, she reluctantly agrees to his advances; fully aware that life was never going to be the same again.


Rajeev Ravi is a renowned cinematographer with many impressive films to his credit such as "Gangs of Wasseypur", "Dev D" etc. This time around he has donned the director's hat & my word, he has done a brilliant job. Though the film was dreadfully slow in many sequences, in total it was engaging and hard hitting. In addition to Ravi, the scripting credits also goes to Sethunath & Santhosh Echikannam especially for well etched roles for even the supporting cast. At a length of close to 3 hours, it can test the patience of quite a few & therefore it would have been better off if they had edited it by about half an hour or so. The music by K was average with "Kannu Randu Kannu" rendered by Shahabaz Aman being the pick among the lot.

I just have one word to say about Fahad Fazil..."brilliant". I am still struggling to believe whether he was the same person who absolutely sucked in his debut venture. I do agree that Anna's role required someone like Andrea quite sobre & stark, but I believe there could have been better choices. From being the loud & cool dude, it was a complete role reversal for Sunny Wayne who excelled in his part. Each & every member of the cast has done total justice to their roles.

Verdict: If it wasn't for the slow movement, the film would have done wonders at the box office. There is no doubt that the length will act as a deterrent for many but it will still have takers who would cherish this hard hitting realistic cinematic experience. In short, dont miss it!!!

Rating: 3.5/5

Regards...Ben


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