Directed by Mridul Nair, Kasargold aspires to be quirky and gory. But the problem is the narrative doesn’t have the flow to keep you excited about the content. Even when they reveal a twist in the tale, it has that familiar feel, or maybe you saw it coming. The backdrop of gold smuggling is indeed interesting, considering the current scenario where we are seeing the news almost on a daily basis. But Kasargold is not able to achieve anything substantially fresh or exciting in this “moral of the story” take on quick money.
Alby works for a political leader with direct links with people smuggling gold through airlines. One day, while returning with his girlfriend after collecting the smuggled gold, his car gets involved in an accident with a vehicle driven by a guy named Faizal. Amid their argument, the bag with the gold gets stolen, and Alby doubts the possibility of Faizal being the thief. How the search for Faizal goes and where it takes the story is what we see in Kasargold.
SPOILER ALERT! As I said in the beginning, it doesn’t feel like a surprise when they place some revealings through twists. I am not saying it’s a cliche. But with the experience of seeing movies with similar plots, you, as an audience, will know where it will go, and the twists they reveal at regular intervals are within those predictions. After maintaining a very commercial and over-the-top narrative for a large chunk of its runtime, Kasargold abruptly shifts its manner to this slightly preachy and sentimental tone in the last 10 minutes.
The writing gives the audience an impression of something extremely wacky in the initial portions. But very soon, it slips into that generic tone of a movie where two guys are running away from a mafia. After that initial burst in the first 30 minutes, the film slips into that usual space where you kind of know what will create trouble for them. How the script unveils the real bad guys in the climax was a crucial moment in the film, but sadly, that area also falls flat. The cinematography uses highly saturated color palettes to distinguish between different locations and the hyper nature of the narrative gets accentuated through the neon lighting in frames in many areas. The fights looked realistic and brutal, while some of the bike stunts felt unnecessary and lacked finesse.
Out of the various stock modes of being cool, Asif Ali uses two of them in this movie. In the initial portions of the film, his portrayal is highly eccentric. After that, it is the return of the “irresponsible guy.” But the plot demands that and hence no complaints. When it comes to Sunny Wayne, everything feels a bit forcefully restrained. The movie has a tiny flashback portion, and that was the only place his performance felt organic. The character’s emotional outbreak in the climax failed to move the audience. Vinayakan, as the suspended cop with a private mission, has the swagger and attitude. But at times, when he sticks to the written dialogue, the dialogue delivery feels slightly odd. Siddique, Deepak Parambol, PP Kunhikrishnan, Malavika Sreenath, Abhiram Radhakrishnan, Dhruvan, Prasanth Murali, and Sagar Surya are the other prominent cast members in the film. Special mention to Ratheesh Balakrishnan Poduval’s performance: subtle yet intimidating.
Kasargold started off with an interesting bedtime story that talked about greed. I was hoping Mridul Nair and Sajimon Prabhakar would present that idea in a more quirky way. But beyond the chaos, Kasargold could not break away from the predictabilities and provide the audience something genuinely fun and catchy.
Beyond the chaos, Kasargold could not break away from the predictabilities and provide the audience something genuinely fun and catchy.
Green: Recommended Content
Orange: The In-Between Ones
Red: Not Recommended
