Even as the theatres wear a deserted look since the lockdown was announced, there were a plethora of flicks that hit the screens in the narrow window prior to that. This essentially meant most of them struggled to get a proper theatrical run to add onto the challenge that the public was also skeptical about going to confined places due to the pandemic. One such movie that got caught in this midst was Sanu John Varghese's "Aarkkariyam" which was initially released on the big screen on April 1st & finally on quite a few OTT platforms last Wednesday.
COVID had just started to spread its tentacles & the people were getting to feel the effects that it had on their lives. This included Shirley (Parvathy) & Roy (Sharafudeen) based in Mumbai as the couple were in a financial crisis as the latter's business consignment was stuck in red tape coz of the shipping restrictions imposed. They decided to head back to Shirley's home back in Kerala where her widowed father, Ittyavira Abraham (Biju Menon) was staying alone in a sprawling estate. How the three of them spent their time together during the lockdown while making efforts to bring back Shirley's daughter from hostel & arranging financial resources to repay Roy's friend Vysakh (Saiju Kurup) forms the crux of the movie.
Sanu John as a cinematographer needs no introduction as his body of work which includes "Viswaroopam 1 & 2", "Thoonga Vanam", "Take Off" etc speaks for itself. This time around he has decided to try his hand in direction with "Aarkkariyam" that he has penned along with Arun Janardanan & Rajesh Ravi. He takes his own sweet time to set the tone before he eventually lands a cracker but the manner that was subsequently built upon felt like a missed opportunity. It's not necessary that everything has to be mystery thriller, however Sanu had the chance to make it much more engaging rather than merely give philosophical statements. There might be questions raised about the pace of the movie, but I certainly felt that it was fine especially since most of us know how slow the time moves at times when we are at home during this period. Most of the technical aspects were fine be it the manner in which Srinivas Reddy captured the locale or Sanjay Divecha's BGM (which I saw was slammed by quite a few though for me it felt fine and not intruding).
With just a few characters roped in for the movie, it was imperative that Sanu made the apt choices & it would be fair to say that he has done just that. Biju Menon was fantastic as the septuagenarian capturing the body language & expressions perfectly while Parvathy as always gave a solid performance, though I felt her character wasnt given as much scope as the other two characters. Sharafudeen was a pleasant surprise & he did justice to his role though Sanu's decision to make him mouth English & Hindi dialogues just didnt appear natural. It stuck out like a sore thumb more often than not but Saiju was spot on in that aspect. A special word of mention to Pramod Veliyanad who continues to impress with his naturality be it in "Kala" & now over here, while Arya Salim has also done a fine job.
Verdict: Biju Menon's fantastic performance along with impressive support from Parvathy & Sharafudeen makes it a decent one time watch. There is no doubt that the movie had the potential to be much more engaging but even in its present form, it still deserves to be watched.
Rating: 2.75/5
Regards...Ben
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