In the recent Kunchako Boban Cinematic Universe of i
So Ramachandran is our title protagonist who is the driver in his police station. He is a married man and he also has a sister. The short-tempered Ramachandran has created enough enemies in his town and the movie Allu Ramendran deals with a phase in his life where someone intentionally decides to give puncture traps to him whenever he drives the police vehicle. How this hidden attack affects him and how he reacts to it is what Allu Ramendran showing us.
Bilahari and his writers know that suspense can’t be a USP for this movie as the intelligent viewer would do the calculations in their headspace. So instead of making it a whodunit, they decided to make it a cat and mouse, tit for tat scenario. There is nothing wrong or clichéd about such an idea, but the intensity and intrigue have to be on the higher side if you want to feel any excitement in it. The series of troubles Ramachandran faces and the way he counters it are shown in a montage style that you won’t feel the anger both parties face. When in the end Ramachandran sort of breaks down claiming he is a very simple guy and we don’t get to see enough material in the movie that will make us feel a sense of empathy for this character.
Kunchako Boban looks fresh and convincing as the nonsuperficial yet macho police officer. He isn’t really using his usual props to pull off this character and that truly brings a difference. Krishna Shankar as Jithu has great timing in pulling off humor and that sort of helps the movie in being enjoyable. What was disappointing for me was the way the female characters were written with less emphasis. For a movie that talked against the bitch shaming against women, I expected a little more from the makers. Aparna Balamurali with her natural way of responding makes Swathi likable. Whereas Chandini Sreedharan was mostly ignored. Salim Kumar is there in his typical style and it was fun to see him like that. Dharmajan is there with his usual comedy and was good at it. Assim Jamal gets a full-length character and was convincing in that role.
Bilahari and his team of writers Girish, Vineeth, and Sajin have an eye for a peculiar theme. But the plotting here isn’t that gripping. It was a movie where the humiliation the characters faced should have transcended to the viewer to make the conflict and response sensible and convincing. The making just couldn’t build that nervous energy. The humor does keep the movie alive, but the curiosity factor was missing. The cinematography was fine. And I really feel the movie could have been edited in a more gripping way. Shaan Rahman has come up with tunes and scores that are pretty much in his zone.
Allu Ramendran needed a tidier and gripping script that could get us excited about the unfolding of the rift between two characters. Instead of focusing on building the frustration and helplessness of the characters, the movie is more inclined towards showing the predictable repercussions of the actions.
Rating: 2.5/5
The cat and mouse theme felt like a tad short in terms of intensity, making the movie land in a less exciting place.
Green: Recommended Content
Orange: The In-Between Ones
Red: Not Recommended
