Black Butterfly

M Renjith’s directorial debut “Black Butterfly” is far from being called as a perfect film. But still the emotional binding and the social relevance makes the movie worth watching. The film is the official remake of Balaji Shakthivel’s tamil film Vazhakku Enn 18/9 which was released in 2012. A tale of selfless love and a message against the teenage criminal mind sets has been conveyed in an attractive way.

The plot follows an investigative thriller pattern and within that it narrates two stories. First half mainly concentrates on the love story of a lower class boy and girl. The second half narrates the relationship between an upper class boy and girl that plays a crucial role in the plot. The connection between the two stories and the result of the investigation is basically the whole movie is about.

Lack of maturity in the performance of the young bloods in the dramatic dialogs written by J. Pallassery is something that will disturb you while watching the film. Balaji Shakthivel has planted the story in a background that has elements which the current generation can relate easily. The idea of taking the topic of advancement in technology that creates wicked thoughts among teenagers and showing it in a commercially feasible and engaging way is indeed an appreciable attempt.

In the making M Renjith has followed a typical style of making. He could have handled the scenes involving the young actors in a better way. J Pallassery’s writing is also satisfactory. The dramatic dialogs were safe in the hands of veteran actors, Shammi Thilakan (dubbed for the CI) and Ganapathi. But the fresh faces who had a major share among the dialogs couldn’t bring the magic. Cinematography of Azhagappan is satisfactory and the cuts of Saajan are good and it keeps the film moving. Pattanam Rasheed once again did a good job in the makeup section and surprisingly Rejaputhra Renjith didn’t used music for this film. The background music of Gopi Sunder is fitting and the main romantic theme music manages to stay in the head.

The main protagonists and antagonists in the movie are new comers. Niranjan as Benny, Mithun Murali as Deepak, Samskruthy Shenoy as Aarathy and Malavika Sai as Reena are just about satisfying. For me the best performer of the movie was Ganapathi who really did a fabulous job and if he can hang in this industry for some more time I am sure he will be a good character actor. I don’t know the actor who played the role of CI but his performance was largely aided by the dubbing of Shammi Thilakan. Maniyan Pilla Raju, Sithara, Janardhanan and Sukumari are there to enhance star cast and they have all done their parts neatly.

On the whole, Black Butterfly scores for its treatment. Hiccups and indigestible flavors are there in parts. But overall package is fair. I am giving 3/5 for this remake. It’s not that typical.