ABCD – American Born Confused Desi

ABCD – American Born Confused Desi, the second film from director Martin Prakkat is a good attempt to create a Munnabhai type entertainer that has both enlightenment and entertainment. There is ample amount of entertainment as the makers have managed to keep the humor throughout the script, but the kind of phase shift in the post interval session was a bit too much that movie slightly loses its sensibility and ability to create enlightenment. But packaged with awesome visuals and the cool dude jokes, ABCD is definitely watchable for its fun factor.

The story here is about the two NRIs Johns and Korah who lives a posh life in New York. Fed up with his deeds, John’s father asks him to go to Kerala and spent a month there. Once they reached here, John’s father closes the bank account so that they will realize the value of money. The problem they had to face with this great financial dip and the interesting turn of events which really changed their social status is what ABCD all about.

Well, Martin and his writers (Sooraj – Neeraj) have done a smart work by keeping the movie humorous. They haven’t made a mess of the Confused Desi’s by making too much fun of the helplessness of the characters. It was sensible fun and in a way that preaches the new generation also about the value of money. But where the movie loses its rhythm is in the second half where the whole plot goes to a social commitment level and the status of the main protagonists goes to a celebrity level for a reason that doesn’t make much sense. But the funniness planted by the writers kind of manages to hide theses flaws to a good extent.

Performance wise, Dulquer Salmaan is pretty comfortable as the ABCD. His character is somewhat a duplication of Faizal of Usthad Hotel. But still the young man scores with his skills. Loved the scene where he explains his daily expense to fellow college mates. Jacob Gregory makes the audience laugh with his helpless expressions and small counter dialogs. The character of Korah was really exploited by the writers to sustain the hilarity. Aparna Gopinath is charming on screen even though her dubbing wasn’t that perfect. The antagonist played by Tovino Thomas is just about convincing. Lalu Alex played his part nicely and a breezy appearance by Vijaya Raghavan. Sreekumar also did his comical role well.

In the backend, Martin has managed to keep the movie stylish and racy. Script is engaging apart from the slightly disturbing phase shift in the second half. Pretty cool dialogs. Jomon’s cinematography is superb and the cuts are also smart. Music from Gopi Sundar is good and I loved the way he used those Windows, iPhone tones in the BG’s.

Overall, ABCD is good fun for a one time watch. Entertainment value is there for sure, but needed a bit more finishing. I am giving a 3/5 for this Martin Prakkat movie. It’s not a disappointment in my perspective.