With the OTT platform being an integral segment to reach out to the audience, there has been numerous occasions when I came to know about a particular movie only when it was streamed there. There were quite a few among the ones that I will be talking about in this opinion piece that belongs to that category. So did it surprise me as to why they failed at the box office? The answer to that will have to be no, in most situations.
Ronth: "Engaging for most parts with a solid Dileesh Pothan!!!"
Over the past decade, if I had to choose the most gripping police dramas that had released in Malayalam; then it will undoubtedly feature "Joseph" & "Nayattu". Incidentally, both of them belong to Shahi Kabir & hence that was more than ample reason to be eager about his latest release which is also set against his previous profession.
SI Yohannan (Dileesh Pothan) was a seasoned police officer who had dealt with all kinds of scum as part of his job. As the name suggests, the story is essentially about the events that unfold in the life of Yohannan & his assistant, CPO Dinnath (Roshan Mathew) during their night patrol. They come across various type of cases that night which takes a toll on both of them on a moral and emotional level.
Yet again, Shahi has come with an engaging police dramas that works for most parts. It reminded me of Abrid Shine's "Action Hero Biju" which is about the various cases that a police office has to tackle on a daily basis. This was pretty much the same except that this happens in the night & maintains a grim tone which increases towards the climax giving the vibe of "Nayattu". To be honest, the climax felt rather forced & hence it didn't quite have the impact that Shahi would have wanted to create. If we go through Shahi's previous flicks, it gives a lot of emphasis on the character & life of the protagonists such as their personal traumas, ideologies and we get to see that in Yohannan and Dinnath.
Kudos to Manesh Madhavan's visuals for the realistic feel to it while the rest of the aspects were neatly done. The caliber of Dileesh & Roshan is something that all of us are well aware about and they continued the good work here as well. However, if I was to compare between the two, then Dileesh was fantastic hands down while Roshan was fine especially in the emotional breakdown portions towards the end.
Verdict: Though not quite upto the mark in comparison to his previous directorial efforts primarily because of a forced climax, it still comes across a gripping police drama pulled off by a praise worthy performance by Dileesh!!!
Rating: 3.25/5
Detective Ujjwalan: "Investigative aspect could have been more thrilling!!!"
The regularity with which Dhyan Sreenivasan's movie releases is a mystery that continues to baffles many especially since most of them had sunk without a trace at the box office. This was least surprising as majority of them were quite mediocre. However, when Sophia Paul's Weekend Blockbusters announced their latest project, I was more than eager to check it out due to their decent track record.
The movie unfolds in the quaint village of Plaachikaavu where Ujjwalan (Dhyan) had a library which predominantly had detective novels. His interest in it also saw him solve minor theft cases which was the most that the villagers had been witness to until the murder of the school principal, Ashokan (Kalabhavan Navas). This was soon followed by another murder & a special investigation team led by SI Shambu (Siju Wilson) was entrusted to unravel the case. Though at loggerheads initially, Ujjwalan joins forces with Shambu as they try to nab the psychopath murderer.
This is Indraneel Gopalakrishnan & Rahul G's directorial debut & they have done a decent job in showcasing their craft. However, the same cant be said about their scripting abilities as it was not quite upto the mark. It had the feel of a 'Minnal Murali' & 'Kunjiramayanam' in terms of the colour tone & retro aesthetics for which Premkrishna Akkattu and S.Harichandran deserves praise. The humour elements take centre stage early on and that had worked out well. But when they came to the core subject, it definitely lacked the punch with the antagonist and the related back story not having the heft that piques our attention.
In terms of performance, it was a character that gelled well with Dhyan's easy going demeanour and hence made it quite likeable. Siju did his part aptly as the macho aspect of the character was portrayed well. Rony David provided the comic relief with support from Ameen and Nihal while Kottayam Naseer was quite solid as the supporting cast.
Verdict: From a thriller perspective, one is bound to feel let down by the manner that angle was not explored adequately. However, it keeps us entertained coz of the humour and the performances.
Rating: 3/5
Azadi: "Interesting jail break that could have been better!!!"
When it comes to jail break movies, I dont think our industry have been able to tackle that genre as well compared to others. Jo George decided to make his directorial debut on this subject with Sagar Hari pitching it with the story & screenplay, and it would be fair to say that it was indeed a decent effort. The bulk of the portions are staged within the premises of the Kottayam Medical College where Ganga (Raveena Ravi), a pregnant prisoner was brought in for her delivery. She was accused of murdering the scion of a prominent politician & her husband, Raghu (Sreenath Bhasi) along with her father, Shiva (Lal) were working on an escape plan for which they had recruited the services of a couple of people. However, it was easier said than done as they had to outwit the police & the politician's contract killers.
There is no doubt that the core thought was promising and it does keep us engaged for most parts. But Jo's direction certainly lacked the freshness and the zing that the movie demanded. On the whole it had an outdated feel to it with Saneesh Stanly's cinematography being average. Even Sagar also needs to take the blame for an average screenplay and at times, mediocre dialogues especially the ones rendered by Vani Viswanath. The thought behind some of the characters also made no sense be it the behaviour of Lal's character or the relevance of Saiju Kurup. On the performance front, Sreenath has done justice to his part along with TG Ravi. As for the rest of the cast, Lal & Co. were ok while Vani Vishwanath hams it big time and Shobhi Thilakan was average.
Verdict: If more thought had gone into the screenplay, it could have been much better.
Rating: 2/5
Mr & Mrs Bachelor: "Miscast & lazily written!!!"
Deepu Karunakaran is not a name that inspires hope for movie lovers after all his previous ventures hasn't quite been off the top drawer. His last directorial flick was about 8 years back & this project was in the news prior to its release due to the tiff between him & Anaswara coz of the latter's lack of co-operation in the movie promotions. Anyway it came & went without much of a whimper and it was not surprising to say the least.
The script penned by Arjun T S unfolds on the eve of Stephy's wedding (Anaswara Rajan) with the news that her groom, Sijin (Rahul Madhav) had backed out and gone missing. However, rather than blame her fate, she decided to locate him & find out the actual reason. This is how she ends up in Trivandrum where she gets acquainted with Siddharth (Indrajith Sukumaran), an affluent businessman and a bachelor & seeks his help.
Apart from the fact that it was a gross miscast with zero chemistry between the lead pair, there was nothing in the story that was worth talking about. It was lazily written and except for a couple of chuckles there is hardly anything that was worth mentioning. By the time, the climax came along we are least bothered as to how the makers ended it. None of the technical aspects deserves mention and when it comes to performances, I fail to understand why a talented artist like Indrajith finds himself in such worthless projects. He genuinely struggled to find his form while Anaswara was better and did what was possible with that character.
Verdict: Don't bother!!!
Rating: 1/5
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