Left Right Left

Even though the movie ends on a dramatic knot, Left Right Left from Arun Kumar – Murali Gopi team has its moments throughout the narration. A script that never goes to a dull phase and power packed performances from the big cast is what makes this movie worth a watch. The disclaimer won’t be enough for the makers to get away from the questions for the direct attacks or rather references they have made in the film.

The plot is somewhat a parallel narrative in the backdrop of communism. The main protagonists are a die hard communist Roy aka Che Guevara Roy, the present RPI(M) leader Kaitheri Sahadevan and a corrupt and slightly mad inspector Jayan. Roy who had an active political career in his younger days is now a silent comrade. Sahadevan is moving the party in a direction which is against the principles of the party. The story here basically revolves around the happenings after a few rebel workers of the party decides to move against the deeds of Sahadevan. The ideological clash between Roy and Sahadevan, and how Jayan happens to play a role in this play is what basically Left Right Left all about.

What impresses you the most is the fact that the film isn’t that peripheral. They have given us an idea about each character through the script which is quite strong. The three main characters follows three ideologies and the way the makers have conveyed it on screen with full power is something really impressive. The direct attack on politicians is something that will make you feel a bit annoyed as the characters in the antagonist shade aren’t a mix of such politicians. The depth given to Jayan’s character was a bit too much, but they have used that part smartly to go into social issues that couldn’t be addressed through the main agenda of the film. Really loved those portions of arguments about the change in ideologies.

The direction is quite superb and Arun Kumar really maintains that practical feel which was there in the script. The script from Murali Gopi is pretty strong and the dialogs are really charming. Much like Ee Adutha Kaalathu, Murali creates some characters and incidences to throw sarcasm over the present condition of the society. The script that had a good rhythm in the first half slightly lost its engaging factor in the second half as they started to invest more time on each character. Impressive cinematography and smart cuts. The art section was very good. The music and BGM from Gopi Sundar is top notch and that really creates the perfect mood for this kind of a political thriller.

The main USP is really the performances. Indrajith is damn good as the slightly mad and rude inspector Jayan. He did the emotional scenes also with much perfection. Murali Gopi played his part nicely. For me the real performer was Hareesh Peradi who portrayed the role of Kaitheri Sahadevan with great perfection and intensity. I just loved the fire in his body language and dialog rendering. The actress who played the role of Jayan’s mother was also excellent. The single shot where she explains the birth of Jayan was really a great visual as it had a whole lot of expressions coming on her face. Lena delivers a smart performance. Vijayaraghavan showed his experience by not making the character an imitation. Sreejith Ravi, Sudheer Karamana, Anusree, Baiju and many others are there in the cast and they all did their part neatly and I wasn’t that impressed with Ahmed Siddique.

Overall its one of the best political thrillers for sure, but the direct references kind of disturbs me. If they presented it in a way where the change in ideology was crucified more than an individual’s deeds, the film would have been more delightful. But smart direction, solid performances and awesome dialogs are still there to entertain, engage and enlighten you. I am giving 3.5/5 and thumbs up for this thriller. Recommended.