The last couple of weeks saw a
host of movies hitting the screens like “Helen”, “Jallikattu” & “Moothon” and all of them have garnered
credible response from both the audience as well as the critics. I didn’t quite
have the time then to pen them down & usually when it has been in the theatres
for more than a week or so, I usually don’t bother to write. But I couldn’t
resist myself from expressing my viewpoint about Mathukutty Xavier’s “Helen” as it kept me glued to the screen
for the whole duration of the movie. So why exactly do I think that you need to
watch this???
I guess there isn’t much to
discuss about as far as the plot is concerned since the trailer kinda reveals
everything. Anywaz Helen (Anna Ben) is a nursing graduate who was preparing for
her IELTS exam to land a job in Canada so as to help her father to pay off
their debts. She also worked at a fast food restaurant in an upscale mall &
shared an adorable relationship with her widowed father, Paul (Lal). Things
moved along peacefully until she gets caught with her boyfriend, Azhar (Nobel
Thomas) by the police squad as the latter had rode the bike under the influence
of alcohol. This irked Paul primarily because he wasn’t aware that she was in a
relationship & even before Helen could pacify him she disappeared without a
trace the very next night. The question that everyone had was whether she
eloped or was she kidnapped???
This was Mathukutty’s debut
venture & it would be fair to admit that he has done a wonderful job
especially since he opted to dabble with a genre like survival thriller which
hasn’t been explored much in Malayalam. He had penned the script with Alfred
Kurian Joseph & Noble Babu Thomas, & the trio deserves praise for
keeping the events utterly believable. The dialogues, attitude of the grownups
to the present generation, ill placed sense of moral policing etc., were all in
sync with what we see around us. On the technical side, Anend Chandran’s
visuals were fine while Shameer Muhammed maintains the mood aptly with his
editing skills. At a running time of less than 2 hours, neither is it too
elaborately staged nor is it flimsy executed & hence it manages to arrest
our attention.
Anna Ben burst in like a breath
of fresh air with her debut in the adroitly created “Kumbalangi Nights”. As Helen, she proved that beneath that
wonderful smile that could light up a whole scene; she is more than capable of
carrying a movie on her young shoulders. Even in front of an experienced actor
like Lal, (who by the way has done an impressive job as well) she seemed at
ease & the father-daughter chemistry that the duo shared really helped the
movie. After having restricted himself to numerous roles that fed off humour,
it was refreshing to see Aju Varghese don a character that showed his dark side
& he has done utmost justice to it. As for the rest of the cast, Nobel
Thomas & Rony David did their parts aptly as well.
Verdict: There is no surprise as to why this movie has done well
since it has been crafted well. In case you haven’t watched it yet, do check it
out without fail as it’s definitely worth the time spent & will surely
appeal to most of the audience.
Rating: 3.5/5
Regards…Ben
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