A couple of days back when I was scrolling through YouTube, I was pleasantly surprised to see Tovino Thomas & Vineeth Kumar doing the promotion for their latest movie "Dear Friend". It seemed curious to me as to why it maintained a low profile in the lead up to its theatrical release considering the cast & crew it had on board. Anywaz Vineeth has captured the warm bond between a group of buddies based out of Bangalore in such an authentic manner that even we get immersed in their journey. However, it fails to provide the closure that many would have expected & raises the question whether OTT could have been a better financial proposition.
Yet another birthday & this time around it was the turn of Vinod (Tovino) to have his legs pulled by his buddies who made him slip into a Superman costume coupled with heavy makeup. As the buddies enjoy the night, they get into a brawl in the pub & gets pulled up by the police. Though Vinod vows to have his payback, it does not affect their equation after all he was the glue in the group. He shared the apartment with Arjun (Arjun Lal) who was in a relationship with his college sweetheart & psychiatrist, Jannat (Darshana Rajendran); Shyam (Arjun Radhakrishan) & Sajith (Basil Joseph). The four friends were working on setting up their own startup based on a healthcare app & it seemed like they were on the brink of their first major investment, when Vinod vanishes without a trace. What made him take such a decision, was it an emotional breakdown or was there more than what met the eye???
The last time that Vineeth had donned the director's cap was for "Ayal Njanalla" about 7 years back & with his latest venture, he has come up with a subject that all of us can relate to be it the friendship vibe, relationships, parties at the bachelor pad etc. The script is penned by the trio of Sharfu, Suhas & Arjun and I certainly liked the manner in which they gave insights into each character's life without making it too obvious. They manage to build intrigue into Vinod's character which is shown to have various layers starting off as the affable, jovial, understanding who carried sorrows and trauma unknown to even his friends. After they try to unravel the mystery behind his disappearance we are exposed to characters who portray him as someone quite unlike the person that he seemed to be.
Despite the slow pace (which would have been a turn off for quite a few), the story still manage to keep us engaged. But the decision to leave it to the perception of the audience and come up with a culmination that kind of stuck out as a sore thumb might not have much takers. I'm not disputing the fact that these kind of things might happen in reality but the writing wasn't strong enough to make us empathetic towards Vinod nor does the pain felt by the friends is efficiently conveyed. On the technical side, it was neatly done be it Shyju Khalid's frames or Justin Varghese's music. As for the performances, each one of them have done their parts well be it Tovino, Darshana, Basil, both Arjuns & Jaffer Idukki.
Verdict: It is certainly a type of movie that is going to garner negative feedback especially because of the manner it eventually concludes. It would have been better off if they had released it on OTT as I dont think it will be able to survive in the theatres more than a few days. Personally, I kind of enjoyed it for large parts but certainly felt that it failed to do justice to the emotional build up that was created. In short, not everyone's cup of tea!!!
Rating: 2.25/5
Regards...Ben
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