Over the last couple of years, there has been an steady influx of fresh talent that has graced the movies both in front and behind the camera. The latest to join the bandwagon is Jofin T Chacko who made his foray into direction with "The Priest" with the legend, Mammookka in the lead. With Manju Warrier sharing screen space with the stalwart for the first time, there was quite a bit of hype as expected when the movie was announced. This eventually translated into footfalls despite the restriction in the theatres. Seems liked the prayers of the producers were answered, so was it as engaging???
Father Carmen Benedict (Mammookka) is a priest by profession though he doubled up as an investigator whenever the need arose. The latest case that caught his attention was the slew of mysterious suicides that happened in an affluent family. During the course of the case, he interacted with Ameya (Monica) whose demeanor and attitude seemed to prove that there was more to her than what met the eye. So Fr. Benedict decides to pursue Ameya in the belief that she would unravel the truth behind the tragical deaths. Was she indeed
Yet another debutant director has made his entry into the industry & has been in the case in many other similar hopefuls, this movie also featured the Mega Star. Apart from captaining the ship, Jofin has also scripted it while the screenplay was handled by Shyam Menon & Deepu Pradeep. There is no doubt that Jofin manages to build up a credible mysterious element in the first half but as it settles into the actual genre to which it belongs, then it meanders in a rather monotonous manner. On the technical side, the movie, Rahul Raj's tracks were soothing to the ears, Akhil George's visuals were praise worthy & the overall making of the movie was fine.
It was refreshing to see Mammookka in a different role & he carried it off with ease. Nikhila Vimal has done a fine job while Venkitesh could have been better in his dialogue delivery. But the pick among the lot was undoubtedly Monica, who performed admirably in a challenging role. Though the movie was advertised as the first one in which Manju Warrier would share screen space with the legend, there was hardly much sequences between the duo. It was more like an extended guest role and she has given a decent performance.
It's been quite a while since Mammookka made his presence felt at the box office & from the looks of it, the movie has garnered decent to positive responses from majority of the critics & the public alike. As far as my opinion goes, I certainly felt it began with an exciting manner as it had an eerie & mysterious feel to the proceedings. However, the latter half didnt quite have the impact that it seemed capable of. In short, give it a try!!!
Rating: 2.5/5
Regards...Ben
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