C/O Saira Banu

C/O Saira Banu has the mother son relationship as its core idea and the entire theme is driven by that emotion. Even though the film is dragged heavily in some areas due to the melodrama, the film somewhere manages to create equilibrium in being emotional and thrilling at the same time. With some clear inspirations from the Subhash Kapoor film Jolly LLB, C/O Saira Banu is worth a watch for sure.

Saira Banu is this post woman who lives with her son Joshua Peter. Joshua is a photography enthusiast and wants to become a great photographer like his father. With his talent he finally gets a chance to learn more about photography, but fate was against his dreams as an unfortunate road accident happens during that phase and the innocent Joshua got trapped in it. The film is basically the legal fight of Saira Banu to free him from this case.

Political correctness is not there for sure. At the end of the film you will definitely feel that many loose ends are there. While the end credit scene was an answer to one such question, there were still a few questions that needed answers. In terms of writing the film needed some fine tuning. The melodrama that unfolds in the middle phase sort of elongates the film. The thrills of an investigation happen in the last quarter of the film which I felt was inspired from Jolly LLB. The fact that the film sheds light on the lives of the insecure life of other state workers here is something that deserves appreciation. But things like motherly instincts hiding a crime make you question the “justice” factor in the content.

Manju Warrier in her second innings was widely criticized for being a bit artificial in character portrayal. The only exception I felt was in her performance was in Jo and the boy which btw was a poor creation in terms of content. C/O Saira Banu has that bubbly and cheerful Manju Warrier in the first half. The second half has this character in the moody phase and the performance was just okay there. Shane Nigam performs neatly as Joshua. Some of you might have felt that Amala is doing an extended cameo like character in this film. To my surprise she has a very elaborate role in the movie. Dubbing artist was struggling hard to find that sync. The artificiality factor in dialogue delivery of Manju Warrier got transferred to John Paul. The other characters played by Niranjana, Biju Sopanam and a few others were fine. Sujith Shankar is a talented actor and film makers should try to explore him rather than type casting him.

Antony Sony, the director of the film was an associate of Rosshan Andrewss and you can clearly see a similarity in the making style when he handles melodrama. Much like Rosshan’s style the making is partially theatrical and a little bit realistic. The screenplay engagingly builds a rapport between Banu and Joshua but in the middle portions it loses that intrigue. I liked the fact that it went away from the way I predicted, but the surprise had inspiration factor from the Hindi film I already mentioned. There is a major continuity glitch in the making at a very key occasion in the film. Cinematography and edits are just okay. Music was fine.

To sum up, C/O Saira Banu isn’t a film entirely devoid of errors. It constantly has ups and downs and at the end the feeling you get is a positive one.

Rating: 3/5