Kannur Squad: "Brothers emulate their Dad as they create success with Mammookka!!!"

1989 an iconic year in Mammookka's career as it led to his maiden National award & also landed him with his fourth State award. Among the movies that made him worthy for the latter honour was Joshi's "Mahayanam" which was bank rolled by C T Rajan. Despite the critical acclaim, the movie incurred losses at the box office which put Rajan in financial crisis. However, more than three decades later his sons, Roby & Rony collaborated with the legend in "Kannur Squad" & it would be fair to say that they have a winner in their hands. 

Kannur Squad as the team was known was formed by Kannur SP Krishnalal (Vijayaraghavan) and comprised of ASI George Martin (Mammookka), CPOs Jose (Azees Nedumangad), Jayan (Rony David) & Shafi (Shabareesh). The team had already created a credible name for themselves over the years with their investigation skills and efficiency. It was at this juncture that Kasaragod SP Cholan (Kishore) requests for their help to nab the culprits behind the dacoity and murder of an affluent politician, Abdul Wahab (Manoj K U). However, due to the politically sensitive nature of the issue there was pressure to wrap up the case in ten days not to mention the tensions that brewed within the team.

Roby Varghese Raj is a relatively known cinematographer having worked in projects like "Puthiya Niyamam", "Eesho", etc.  This is his directorial debut in which he joined with his brother, Rony & Muhammed Shafi who had penned the script. As many of you would be aware, there is an actual team called 'Kannur Squad' which was formed by the former Kannur SP Sreejith & the events captured in the movie was basically two cases that they had handled. It is essentially a police procedural drama but they have been sensible enough to introduce cinematic elements to it making sure that they didn't go overboard with it. In terms of the story template, it is similar to Rajeev Ravi's "Kuttavum Shikshayum" & Vinoth's "Theeran Adhigaaram Ondru"; but still manages to have an identity of its own with its engaging screenplay. A prime example is the way that they managed to create an emotional connect with the Tata Sumo, the fifth member of the squad. Even the technical aspects were well executed be it Muhammed Rahil's cinematography, Praveen Prabhakar's editing & the exceptional sound track of Sushin Shyam which elevated the impact of many of the sequences (loved the intro track). 

The real Kannur squad

On the performance front, there is nothing much to say about the veteran legend as he was spot on with his performance & still manages to make it distinct from the innumerable police officers he portrayed in the past. Just like Mammookka had mentioned in the promotions, Azees has done an impressive job & will in all probability get more meaty roles just like how Kalabhavan Shajon's career zoomed off after "Drishyam". Among the four, Rony was the one who had more of a backstory & he has done his part aptly along with Shabareesh. Whenever Arjun Radhakrishnan has appeared in a movie, I have always found him do utmost justice to his part & over here as well, he was impressive in bringing out the menacing feel to his character. As for the rest of the cast, Kishore, Vijayaraghavan, Sarath Sabha, the North Indian constable (not sure of the name) etc. did justice to their roles. 

Verdict: Mammootty Kampany continues to be associated with quality script & "Kannur Squad" is the latest addition to it. Kudos to the legend who continues to awe us with his eye for talent as yet another director makes his entry into the industry & also for his own performances. In short, don't miss it!!!

Rating: 3.75/5

Regards...Ben

Jawan: "King Khan's swag & aura shoulders this cliched South Indian masala template!!!"

Just five days since it's release & Atlee's "Jawan" has entered the 300 C club in the domestic circuit while the world collection has gone past 500 C. It's undoubtedly validation of the star power of King Khan who took an hiatus from the industry for about four years and came back with a vengeance. After the roaring success of "Pathaan", it seems more than likely that this would also clock similar number by the end of its run. So does the content actually justify the numbers generated? Well, to be frank that it is not even a relevant question coz what matters is whether it managed to entertain the audience. In that sense, what is my opinion about SRK's juggernaut at the box office???

The movie unfolds three decades back with an unconscious injured man nursed back to health by villagers & how he became their Messiah. The story jumps to the present day, where a balded man who called himself Vikram Rathore (SRK) along with his band of girls hijacked a Mumbai metro train for a ransom of 40,000 crores in exchange for the lives of the passengers which included the daughter of Kailee Gaikwad (Vijay Sethupathi), the biggest arms dealer in the country. The negotiation was done with NSG Officer Narmada Rai (Nayanthara) & Kailee transferred the money to the gang. However, what surprised the NSG was that the money in turn was re-directed to the accounts of seven lakhs farmers to waiver their loans. So who was this Vikram Rathore & what was his motive to become a modern day Robin Hood??

For starters, I have to confess that I have not been a fan of the type of movies that Atlee had churned out with "Raja Rani" being the sole exception. When it was announced that SRK was collaborating with Atlee I was interested to know whether it would indeed be a Bollywood movie or rather SRK in a Tamil movie spoken in Hindi. Well the second statement turned out to be true as it was mish mash of numerous Tamil mass movies that we have seen in the past with elements of the story literally taken from "Bigil", "Mersal", "Thaai Naadu", "Aarambham" etc. In essence, it felt like we were watching a reel of all these movies in a single movie. Apparently, the screenplay is credited to Atlee & S.Ramanagirivasan and I seriously dont think much thought has gone into into it as it felt like they were hurrying to tell all the issues that plagued the nation and make the protagonist handle everything. But still it manages to keep us engaged for large parts & that is solely because of SRK, who just owned the screen. On the technical side, it was executed quite well be it G K Vishnu's visuals, the action choreography, VFX etc., though I would have to admit that I was a tad disappointed with Anirudh's efforts which was average at best unlike what he did in "Jailer". Another part that felt odd was the make up for Vijay Sethupathi which just didn't suit him & at times, lacked continuity. 

King Khan was fantastic as the protagonist as he had the swag and aura that the character required. The only segment that I felt rather odd was when both the avatars of SRK were on screen together whereby the younger one's performance felt rather odd. Despite the presence of Sethupathi, Nayanthara, Priyamani etc ., none of their characters were written well enough due to which except for certain scenes none of them managed to create an impression. The only exception to that was surprisingly the extended cameo of Deepika Padukone whose part had more meat to it & which she performed well. 

Verdict: Well the audience have already spoken & given their verdict. As for me, it does throw light on many issues (far too many, rather than being focused) & the breaking of the fourth screen at the end was also impactful, but it all worked solely coz of SRK. So watch it solely for King Khan's swag !!!

Rating: 2.25/5

Regards...Ben