As has been the trend for quite a while, we had two individuals making their directorial debut over the past weekend. These included Hemanth G Nair with "Higuita" & Raghumenon with "Jawanum Mullapoovum". At the outset, it would be fair to say that both of them did promise something worthwhile courtesy of the former's trailer & the latter's core subject. However, the lack of an imaginative script proved to be the downfall of both of them. So why exactly didn't it work???
Higuita: "Except for the title, it is just cliché Kannur politics!!!"
The first football WC that I had witnessed was the 1990 edition where Rene Higuita, the Colombian goalie caught the fancy of most of us with his scorpion kicks. But he had to pay a prize for his antics when Cameroon's Roger Milla made him look like a fool & sent them packing back home. Anyway when Hemanth chose this title, I was intrigued to know as to how it made sense in a movie that spoke about Communism. Well there was no logical connection except for a passing statement about the protagonist being a footballer in his hey days.
Apart from calling the shots, Hemanth had taken on the mantle of handling all the major responsibilities which included penning a script. The movie is about Communism & set in Kannur (surprise!!!) which as always is portrayed as the bedrock of violence where political murders, assassination plan and attempts is an everyday affair. The political supremo of the region was Panniyannur Mukundan (Suraj Venjaramoodu) whose popularity among the masses earned him enemies both within and outside his party. As a result, the State Government decided to provide him protection by appointing a gun-man, Ayyappa Das (Dhyan Sreenivasan). Incidentally, this was the latter's first assignment who had reluctantly taken up this job as he lacked the courage to be an officer. The events that unfold as a result of his assignment forms the basis of the movie.
Over the years, we have had some excellent movies based on politics of the Left such as "Lal Salaam", "Left Right Left" etc. However, there were many who tried to replicate their success but to no avail & the latest to join the bandwagon is "Higuita" as it failed to provide anything that was fresh in thought or execution. The protagonist is portrayed with shades of grey & a great deal of build up is created by virtue of the stories that Ayyappa Das comes across. None of it is actually shown on screen & the twist created in the end didn't quite manage to create the desired impact as the screenplay was rather uninspiring. It felt as if Hemanth was sceptical to go hard & showcase the dirty politics. None of the technical aspects deserves special mention as it was average at best.
Coming to performances, Suraj has done justice to the role with Vineeth Kumar being impressive as well. As for the rest, Dhyan was average to mediocre while Manoj K Jayan & Indrans didn't have much to do.
Verdict: No amount of BGM can elevate a movie if it doesn't have an engaging screenplay & that is the problem that plagues Hemanth's celluloid creation. In short, a shallow cliched political movie on the Left!!!
Rating: 2/5
Jawanum Mullappoovum: "Relevant topic with a non-existent script!!!"
About half an hour into the movie & I still couldn't understand as to what was Raghumenon was trying to convey through his debut venture. Well rather than put the blame solely on him, the bulk of the criticism should be directed at Suresh Krishnan who is credited with the story & screenplay. Frankly I fail to understand on what basis he is being acknowledged coz it was nothing more than many sequences put together to resemble a movie.
At the same time, a relevant topic like cyber crime was chosen but unfortunately Suresh barely scratched the surface of it. Sumesh Chandran played the role of a jawan who had retired from the army & returned back to his family. His wife, Jayashree (Shivada Nair) was a sincere & proactive teacher and despite the occasional tiffs coz of his suspicious nature, life moves on steadily. But things take a turn when Jayashree gets caught up in a cyber issue.
Except for Shivada's earnest performance, neither the cast nor the crew managed to make their presence felt in a positive sense. Until the core issue gets mentioned, nothing much worthwhile happens & even after that also, it seemed the makers had no clue as to how to wrap it up in a conclusive manner.
Verdict: Despite the low expectations, it still failed to create an impression though a sensible script would have made a significant impact!!!
Rating: 1.25/5
Regards...Ben
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