Grand Master

“Grand Master” from director B Unnikrishnan is a surprise for me. Never expected this kind of a package from a director who delivered 3 films which were not that pleasing for me. This movie is a decent package for those audience who loves to see a sensible level of heroism. Unlike other B Unnikrishnan movies, you wont get to see any breathless spitting english dialogs or 2nd class Malayalam heroic dialogs in this movie. No Suraj Venjaaramoodu to enhance the comedy.

This is a chapter in the life of an investigating police officer Chandrashekhar IPS head of the newly formed Cochin based MCSC. Chandrasekhar receives a letter from a stranger who invites him for a game. A game with the life of other people. The movie is all about Chandrasekhar finding this man behind the mask who somewhat is as equal as Chandrasekhar in terms of brain. One of the reasons why Grand Master makes me smile is that it allows the audience to form their own story line about the movie. The big star cast is not a complete waste. From Mithra Kurian to Anoop menon every one makes a small sniff of suspense in our minds. More than just being a thriller investigative story, Grand Master shows some other shades of life through the life of Chandrashekhar a divorcee and his lost family.

I think after “Pingami”, Grand Master is a movie where I found Mohanlal as a calm coll and yet communicating investigator. Mohanlal who is not a method actor has successfully portrayed the role of Chandrashekhar IPS with flawless grace. The rendering of dialogs and the body language of the character makes his Chandrashekharan a unique one. He wins the heart with his Dad avatar. In the rest of the cast no one really delivers a below standard performance. Narain’s has convincingly shown his presence as Kishor. Jagathy also did his role as Basheer neatly. Babu Antony portrayed his psycho Victor character impressively. The villain deserves a pat on the back for handling the precarious climax sequence neatly.

The screenplay has a good smooth speed. A little bit dragging in the second half but still not distracting. No big bang dialogs. Only small and effective dialogs. Definitely great improvement in direction of B Unnikrishnan when compared to his last outing Thriller. Cinematography and editing deserves a special mention for making the movie look good, especially in fight sequences. The scene were Babu Antony jumps from building felt natural. Good engaging BGM. Sweet music by Deepak Dev. The songs never stood out of the flow of the story.

Overall Grand Master directed by B Unnikrishnan is a decent thriller supported by solid performances. Sensible heroism, perfectly sized canvas and out of the cliche style story telling makes Grand Master a delightful watch. My rating for grand Master is 3.5/5.