This Vishu-Easter season has seen many of the movies slug it out for honours at the box office & the latest to join the scramble to earn the maximum eye balls is Arun Kumar Aravind's "1 by Two". Incidentally, the release of the movie coincided with the announcement of State Film Awards which saw Fahad Fazil win the coveted Best Actor for the first time. Already the promos has garnered a lot of interest & to add to that, the promise that Arun Kumar showcased with his previous venture "Left Right Left"; the question that now remains is whether this would live upto expectations???
Dr. Hari Narayanan (Murali Gopi), a noted surgeon & son of a powerful business tycoon has met with his death after crashing his car onto a truck. This event has rendered his twin brother, Ravi into a state of dissociative identity disorder whereby he behaves like Hari. Yusuf Marikar (Fahad Fazal), Crime Branch Officer had been a witness to Hari's death but when he is told by people from his own department & others related to the deceased family that Hari had escaped unscathed; he decides to unravel the mystery. So did Hari actually die or was all this a farce???
This is Arun Kumar's fourth film & each of his previous ventures have revealed that he is indeed a talented film maker. The main highlights of his movies has been a strong thread incorporated into a cohesive script. Here too, the potential that the basic story had was immense but Jeyamohan went overboard with excessive indulgence into the protagonists mental framework which doesnt add much apart from ebb the flow of the movie. For an engaging thriller, there has to be some sort of a surprise element in the climax & though it does touch upon interesting topics it barely explores those apart from a brief mention. As for other aspects, Gopi Sundar was brilliant with the BGM & even added "Psycho"'s iconic score towards the end as a tribute (I guess not as a liftoff). Some of the sequences shown in the trailer has been edited but Arun could have edited another 20 mins & made it more crisper & engaging.
Murali Gopi has done an impressive job as the twins especially in the climax while Fahad Fazil has done a good job with the half baked role that he was served with as we see him do nothing in the first half apart from being on the bike & bark for answers from everyone. Shyamaprasad deserves praise for his portrayal of the psychiatrist while Honey Rose makes use of a meaty role given to her. As for the rest of the cast, I liked the naturality & nonchalant attitude of the actor who essayed the role of Dr. Balakrishnan.
Verdict: This will have an impressive opening thanks to the good will & quality that the duo of Murali Gopi & Arun Kumar churned out in "Left Right Left". However, the lack of an engaging storyline & dreary pace will hamper its chances at the box office. In short, it is an opportunity missed as it definitely had the potential to be a brilliant film!!!
Rating: 1.5/5
Regards...Ben
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