As Malayalis, there will hardly be anyone who isn't aware about the 'vadam vali malsaram' or tug-of-war. It is an integral part of many of our festivities with Onam obviously topping the list. But not many of us would know that there are more than a thousand registered teams & roughly 600 tournaments are held in a year in our state. This clearly shows the lack of media coverage that this sport richly deserves. Incidentally, this is the premise for Bibin Paul Samuel's "Aaha" which is inspired from Aha Neloor, one of the most decorated teams to ever grace the sport. Since sports drama is one of my favourite genre, I didn't have to think twice to check it out.
Aha Neloor was at the end of their annual campaign & needed to win just one more tournament to claim the enviable record of being unbeaten. Geevichan Aashan (Manoj K Jayan) & his team headlined by the star player Kochu (Indrajith) breezed through the league phase as expected. But destiny had other plans as the hot favourites crashed out in the finals on the back of Kochu's mistake. This was the beginning of the end of Aha & it took more than two decades for it to be revived when Ani (Amith Chakalakkal) and his friends decided to take it up. But will it be able to match the lofty standards that Aha had set in the past???
This is Bibin Paul's directorial debut & he deserves praise along with Tobit Chirayath for choosing a subject that hasn't been explored much. The biggest bane of this genre is the predictability since more often than not the underdogs will end up as Champions. In such a scenario it's imperative that the character arc of the main artists are well established, so that the audience will connect with them emotionally & eventually root for them towards the end. To Tobit's credit, he has certainly tried that by showcasing the problems that quite a few of them faced but to be frank, apart from Kochu's & the Bengali's, the others didn't quite have the depth. However, the vadam vali sequences were thrilling & the BGM certainly did its part in such portions.
I personally believe that Indrajith is one of the most versatile artists among the 'relatively' younger generation, though he hasnt got consistent opportunities to showcase it. As Kochu, he was fantastic as the older avatar where he was able to make us feel the pain that his character was going through. Ashwin as Chenkan was impressive & so was Manoj K Jayan, but both of them had very limited screen time. As for the rest of the cast, Amith, the Bengali guy & Santhy Balachandran (as Mary) were fine while the others did their parts aptly.
Verdict: There is no doubt that the movie had moments which was thrilling but it was a thread that had the scope to be explored more. Some of the characters such as Chenkan, Geevichan Aashan could have been further developed and the trauma that some of the present members are going through should have been fleshed out properly. In short, a decent one time though it could have been much better!!!
Rating: 2.25/5
Regards...Ben
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