Bangalore (I still prefer calling it that), a city in which I have spent close to 8 years of my life has played a significant role in my personal & professional life. Hence, whenever a Malayalam movie is picturized in the Garden City; it kind of gives me an additional motivation to check it out. One such movie released last week & it happened to be Prashanth Murali's "Lalbagh". From the looks of it, it seemed like a stylishly shot murder mystery flick. But apart from the visuals, does it manage to engage the audience???
Tom (Sijoy Varghese) & Sarah (Mamta Mohandas) along with their daughter led a happily married & affluent life in the cosmopolitan city. But Sarah was in for a rude shock, when Tom was found dead on the couch the morning after his daughter's birthday bash. Police Officer Ganesh Hegde (Rahul Dev Shetty) was in charge of proceedings & prima facie, it seemed like a suicide. However, his instincts told him that there was more to the case than what met the eye. His prime suspects included Sarah, Tom's friends & co-workers who had stayed on for much longer after the rest of the guests had left. His hunch was certainly on the right track as it became evident that a few of them had motivation, though it was hard to pinpoint.
This was Prasanth's second directorial venture after "Paisa Paisa" & over here, he has blended family drama along with the investigation procedure which certainly was a smart move. The manner in which those portions were kept us engaged & for authenticity, this segment primarily had conversations in Kannada or English. Since I do understand a fair bit of the language it was ok, but I believe that could have hampered the viewing experience for many unfamiliar with the language due to the lack of subtitles. On the technical side, Antony Jo's visuals were impressive in capturing the urban milieu as well as the indoor shots. Another aspect that stood out was Rahul Raj's music that was in sync with the mood. But the actual case fails to engage as it felt rather shallow & the twists didn't come across as unexpected. Coming to performances, Mamta Mohandas was an apt choice to play this character but she wasnt as convincing in the emotional sequences. Even Sijoy was pretty average but both Rahul Dev & Rahul Madhav did justice to their parts. As for the rest of the cast, they were average at best.
Verdict: Felt like a movie that could have been far better but the narrative didnt quite have the impact that would have engaged the audience. Despite the fact that it had a run time of just about 100 mins, it felt much longer than that & whenever that happens, it isn't a great sign. In short, a failed opportunity!!!
Rating: 2/5
Regards...Ben
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