This is something that I have said in my previous reviews, that we shouldn’t express our disappointment in new films by saying how great the old movies were. I am saying this because there are filmmakers out there who don’t understand the concept of something being outdated. Bhishmar, the new movie from East Coast Vijayan, has a script by Ansaj Gopi that is stuck in the pre-mobile phone era. The writing is almost oblivious to the fact that there are so many content creators out there who produce genuinely fresh ideas daily. Bhishmar wants to be this madcap comedy where a lot of chasing and confusion unfold. However, it rarely manages to create a single moment of genuine laughter.
The movie is set against the backdrop of Palakkad. Our main man, Murugan, runs a vegetable shop in his village. Gouri used to be his love interest. Unfortunately, she got married to someone else. Into this routine life of Murugan enters this stranger named Aravind, asking Murugan’s favor in abducting his girlfriend, who has been held captive by her family. Murugan’s attempt to find the girl and what happens after that is what we see in this movie.
The earlier parts of the movie, which start with the love story of Murugan and Gouri, have the quality of the mega serials we see, and, looking at the kind of atrocities both East Coast Vijayan and Dhyan Sreenivasan have given in the past, this daily soap treatment is less harmful. But the torture begins precisely at the point Vishnu Unnikrishnan’s character appears in the movie. In one form or another, the movie conveys the fact that Aravind’s backstory actually occurred, and the presentation of that part serves as proof that East Coast Vijayan is absolutely clueless about current campus life. The junior artists in those flashback portions are acting with this “what the hell is this” kind of expression on their faces.
In the second half of the movie, Bhishmar wants to take the form of a madcap road movie where they are chasing someone. But the movie is clearly running out of ideas to create humor and drama. There is a petrol pump sequence in the second half where Murugan gets to know that Aravind’s love story made even a rough and tough petrol pump owner cry like a baby. The tackiness of that scene and the decision to retain such a terrible scene that has been enhanced with many dubbed dialogue with no lip sync gives you an idea about the cluelessness of the writer and the director. There is a moment in this movie where Senthil Krishna’s character storms into Murugan’s home to find him. I am totally against bodyshaming, but why are you looking for someone like Dhyan Sreenivasan under the bed and inside a table drawer?
Dhyan Sreenivasan, as Murugan, gets to play all versions of his character. In the beginning, he is this Romeo who lost his Juliet, and his opening shot in the movie has him sitting and looking at his lover with teary eyes. Then he becomes the friendly neighborhood Dhyan Sreenivasan. After a point, he is this frustrated guy, and towards the end, East Coast Vijayan makes Murugan, Puli Murugan, a transformation similar to that of Azees Nedumangad in Sukran. Divya Pillai plays the part of Gouri. Initially, seeing her anger towards Murugan made me think that Murugan may have done something silly that led to their breakup. But when you realize that Gouri knew the reason why Murugan couldn’t reach her in time, that whole character feels like an insensitive one. Vishnu Unnikrishnan may well look like the second lead in the movie in terms of story. However, in terms of screentime, that character appears minimally. And whenever he is on screen, thanks to the terrible writing, we will end up facepalming frequently.
Ammayra Goswami, who was there as a glamour add-on in Apoorva Puthranmar, plays the role of an important character, Raziya, in this film. Her expressions are pretty forced, and the flawed lip sync is giving Raveena Ravi a really tough time behind the mic. Since that character is mostly sleeping in the whole movie, we get to experience less torture from that end. Akhil Kavalyoor and Shaju Sreedhar are playing the parts of the hero’s close aids. Shaju Sreedhar’s accent has left his hometown, but has not really reached Palakkad. Unni Lalu, a favorite actor of mine, gets to do one character role among many other terrible characters in this movie, and I genuinely hope he will come out of this phase soon. Death Star Santhosh Keezhattoor almost dies in this movie. Senthil Krishna plays the role of the cruel husband of Gouri.
The moments and scenes that I have mentioned in this review are only a few to let you know the level of humor in this movie. Something illogical or outdated is present in every scene of this film. The profound reason why this movie got the title Bhishmar actually changed the way I look at the Bhagavat Gita or Mahabharata. I mean, where is religious outrage when you need it? Since East Coast’s music label holds the rights to the song Poomakal Fathima, East Coast Vijayan has added that song at the end, with Ammayra Goswami struggling to emote according to the song. I just wanted to let you know that, so that you can leave when that song begins.
