Nellikka

At certain points the movie Nellikka directed by Bijith Bala might make you feel that it could have been a movie that can give a facelift to its leading actor. But looking at the whole content, this movie is an unsurprising thriller that terribly lacks the quintessential thrill. With a confused mix of revolution and thrills, Nellikka is a below average cinema.

Balu is that modern day guy who passed out of an Engineering college and is sitting jobless. After 7 long years of studies and wandering Balu comes back to home at the time of his elder sister’s wedding. His brother in law was a very cool and smart guy who offered him all the support for a better future. An illegal money transaction that Balu got involved to save one of his friends, messes up the whole happiness. The movie basically focuses on the people behind this operation and how Balu’s life gets miserable after this incident.

The first half an hour of the movie is just an okay phase where there is a bit of coolness and usual clichés. After a particular point you as an experienced viewer can easily sense the suspense coming. When the truth starts to unfold in a supposed to be surprising way, we as an audience won’t find it much thrilling as the possibility has already crossed our mind. The twists towards the interval were very dull and weak. The second half character transformation of Balu was very disappointing and the main reason is the fact that Deepak Parambol didn’t have the grace to convince us.  With a predictable and charmless climax Nellikka fails to make its point.

Editor turned director Bijith Bala hasn’t tried anything unconventional. The frames and styles are very much on the familiar terrain and the direction couldn’t bring any charm to that screenplay which was finding it difficult to generate a genuine curiosity. The subplots towards the end look very irrelevant. Screenplay lacks surprises and at many areas it is heavily clichéd. Dialogues aren’t powerful. Kunjunni S Kumar’s cinematography is just about okay. Bijipal’s music is enjoyable.

On the acting side, Atul Kulkarni was a very apt choice for the character of Satheesh and he has portrayed his character that has multiple shades in a very effective manner. Deepak Parambol on the other hand was a misfit for the role. As I mentioned earlier, the character of Balu demanded a kind of graceful screen presence which apparently Deepak couldn’t bring in. Sija Rose doesn’t have anything to do in the movie. Bhagath was able to please the viewers. Sasikumar was okay in his character. I don’t know the name of the actress who did the role of Satheesh’s wife, her performance was very poor. A lot of actors are there in the long list and my biggest disappointment was seeing actor Jijoy in a totally muted character.

Ultimately Nellikka is a disappointment. Borrowing heroism from Tamil Nadu isn’t enough to make a thriller engaging and gripping. The rating for the movie is 2/5. It isn’t that sweet.