Diwanjimoola Grand Prix

The always real Siddique and the uniquely hilarious Vinayakan are the two factors that make an extremely predictable Diwanjimoola Grand Prix a non boring watch. With an assembled story that tries to add very less to make it look unique, Diwanjimoola Grand Prix manages to shift its gears only in the last quarter and thus ending up as a film that won’t stay with you for long.

Diwanjimoola is this place in Thrissur and it has this lineage of Bike Racing to its credit. Jithendran used to be the champion rider there until an accident paralyzed him. The film Diwanjimoola Grand Prix is talking about the developments in the present day where the newly appointed collector initiates efforts to kick start the racing again and how Jithendran decides to avenge for the foul play that changed his life.

Prashant Nair, former district collector of Kozhikode is credited as the co writer of the film and it feels like he has been roped in only to write the parts for the collector character played by Kunchako Boban. That character is pretty much doing nothing for this movie if you look at the whole picture. The main track of the film that involves the bike racing part was a template that we have seen in many films. Anil Radhakrishnan Menon who has earlier made films that were engaging, here fails to add freshness. From the cool collector to the dumb and Duff racer, there is no subtlety in his presentation. What saves the film from being dull is the realness in depiction. The characters are largely behaving in the natural way.

Siddique is in my opinion the central character of this film. And much like his usual habit of delivering real performances for small character roles, he adds life to the character of Jithendran. Nyla Usha as Jithendran’s daughter was also real. Kunchako Boban’s charming looks are the only thing about the collector character that appears on screen as if to remind us that he is also a part of the narrative. Vinayakan who appears in the last half an hour of the film was actually the one who brought energy to the film. Sudheer Karamana, Hareesh and Team from Sapthamashree Thaskaraha, Tiny Tom from Pranchiyettan and Ashokan from Thoovana Thumbikal appear in the film to narrate the story. And even Kunchako Boban’s collector carries the name from his character in Kasthuriman. The actor who played the role of Shathan looks convincing for the role.

The quirks Anil Radhakrishnan Menon has used in his previous films are there in Diwanjimoola Grand Prix too. But where he fails is in bringing excitement to the narrative. Even after being similar to Oceans 11, Sapthamashree Thaskaraha was entertaining because he rooted the characters sensibly. Here the energy was down and the script looked scattered. How Shathan became a good rider that quickly and how he won the race even after having so many issues during the race is still a mystery. Edits were a bit cluttered in the first half and confusing during the climax race. Cinematography was good. Songs by Gopi Sunder were fine and couple of them sounded really nice.

Diwanjimoola Grand Prix is only two hours long and because of that it never becomes a test of patience. With dialogue humour keeping it alive along with Siddique and Vinayakan chipping in with memorable performances, I would say it’s an average film.

Rating: 2.5/5