Randu

Sujith Lal’s Randu is this socio-political satire that feels very flat in terms of how it has constructed drama in the story. Last week’s satire Oru Thathvika Avalokanam was one film that lacked a well-structured story. In Randu, Sujith Lal is actually trying to give some structure to his concept. But the outdated feel of the writing makes the film too easy to predict, and the end result is a preachy movie with no real impact.

Shailendra Kumar, aka Vava, is our central character. He is an auto-rickshaw driver who wants to have a respectable white-collar job. He is a secular guy who has friends with all kinds of political and religious affiliations. The communal tension in that area was a bit high, and at the peak of it, Vava got involved in an incident that sort of labeled him as a right-wing supporter. The changes that happened in Vava’s life after that incident are what we see in Randu.

Hero saying “I can explain” 20 times instead of actually explaining is a script trope that has been there for a long time. Even in the recent film Marakkar, people made fun of a scene that had a similar situation. Randu has way too many outdated tropes in the script. There is a lust-driven dynamic between the characters played by Vishnu Unnikrishnan and Anna Reshma Rajan in this movie, and it was a cringe-fest. The bond between the neighbors was another insufferable melodrama that one has to sit through in this movie. The satire angle in this movie will remind you of amateur street drama that loudly says its agenda and message.

The movie isn’t offering much of a challenge to anyone in terms of performance. Vishnu Unnikrishnan is playing his typical “innocent” human being as Vava. Sudhi Koppa plays the role of Vava’s best friend, Shajahan. Sreelakshmi is the typical mother, and Mamitha Baiju plays that stereotypical sister character. Tiny Tom and Irshad get to play the leaders of the two religious gangs. Gokulan, Vishnu Govindan, Musthafa, etc., are also there in the star cast.

You can’t deny the fact that the movie has a pertinent theme. But Randu uses it as an excuse to defend its unimaginative presentation. Vava, the character played by Vishnu Unnikrishnan, is going through many emotional struggles. But because of a weakly written script, you aren’t feeling bad for this character. And because of that, what happens in the second half also feels like a routine solution. The writing fails to create a genuine tension in the atmosphere, and thus everything feels a bit forced. Binulal Unni wants us to show how bad reading of a situation can worsen the political climate, but his arsenal was full of outdated imaginations.

The current socio-political scenario of our country actually offers a lot of scope for political satires. In fact, I would say political satires are almost the need of the hour, considering the kind of control people in power are imposing on creators. But sadly, the satires we get to see these days are flat and superficial. Randu is a dull and outdated satire that drains out very quickly.

By Aswin Bharadwaj

Founder and editor of Lensmen Reviews.

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