Madhav Ramadasan’s previous flick Melvilasam was an extremely good cinema that used the drama and emotions to a great level which took the viewer to that atmosphere and think from the characters perspective. In comparison to that cinema, the director hasn’t reached that level of intensification. But with very socially relevant subject dipped in a dramatic format, Apothecary is a good film.
Apothecary focuses on the life of a sincere doctor Vijay. Vijay works in this private hospital named Apothecary and the sincere doctor was forced to do certain medicinal testing on human beings. The mental trauma he had to undergo before raising his voice against these inhuman things done by certain doctors and pharmaceutical companies is what the film bringing to us.
For those who have seen Aamir Khan’s TV show Satymeva Jayathe, the information given by the movie won’t be a shocking surprise. Madhav Ramadasan has tried to give that thought a filmy interpretation by giving the movie a treatment that I certainly believe will haunt doctors who are involved in these kind of activity. The problem I could sense in this film was mainly in the casting of certain important supporting actors. Only a very limited number of actors were able to pull off the dialogues that had high amount of drama, with the correct modulation. There is a dramatic approach by the writer to display death or the struggle for that. I don’t know how many of you would find that as interesting but the reason why I enjoyed that portion was because of the surprisingly mature acting from Asif Ali.
In the making side I think Madhav Ramadasan has improved a lot in visualizing the idea. DOP Hari Nair also deserves a special mention for those visuals that succeeds in creating that haunting feel. When it comes to scripting, I think Mr Ramadasan should try to reduce the amount of drama he creates. Except for Jayasurya and Asif Ali I don’t think no other actor was able to deliver their dialogues in a natural way. Even Suresh Gopi failed at times to be natural. BGMs were good. Edits could have been better.
On screen, Suresh Gopi excels at some scenes but fails at certain other occasions. One man I think should be given a state award is Jayasurya for yet another brilliant performance. The innocent and practical Subin was extremely safe in his hands. The run time of Asif Ali’s character is quite less but as I mentioned earlier, the actor surprised me in that debating sequence towards the climax. A special mention to actor Indrans for that memorable performance as Subin’s father. Abhirami, Raghavan and many more in the star cast were just about okay with their performances.
To sum it up, I liked Apothecary. But it failed to create the kind of impact Melvilasam created in me. For those who just scrolled down all the way to this paragraph, the number you are looking for is 3/5.
Green: Recommended Content
Orange: The In-Between Ones
Red: Not Recommended
