Red Wine

On the positive side you can say that the new movie Red wine directed by Salam Bappu is a non typical multi starrer that focuses on the content than the star value of the actors. But when analyzing at the end, the lack of clarity in its focus makes this movie an average deal for the viewer. The uneven phase shift towards the climax that fails to sustain suspense derails red wine from its expectations.

The movie is basically about the life of a communist party activist Anoop, who gets killed in mysterious circumstances. The ACP of Calicut Ratheesh Vasudevan is in charge of the investigation. The movie goes through the investigation of Ratheesh Vasudevan along with a parallel narrative about the past of Anoop, who lived the life of a true communist.

Well the content has some freshness and with all these political assassinations happening around us, the film manages to get the attention of the viewer. The first half and the beginning portions of the second half of the film is treated as a crime thriller, but towards the conclusion the writer tries to add emotional shades to the investigative officer who wasn’t that emotional till that point. That movie couldn’t hold itself from the shake due to this phase shift from a thriller to an emotional one. Another disturbing feature is the lack of focus. They have tried to throw light on too many aspects and thus quite a lot of loose ends are there in the film. The characters played by Meghna Raj and debutant Maria John are there to create some unwanted complexities in the minds of the audience.

On screen, Mohanlal is in his comfort zone and easily portrays the calm and cool Ratheesh Vasudevan. For me the star of the show was indeed Fahad Faazil who yet again delivers a sparkling performance on screen as the activist who is close to the common man. He fits into the character very nicely. Asif Ali was a miscast in my perspective. The character of Rameshan demanded a bit more maturity and physical strength. The natural style of Asif Ali does not suit the character and that does annoy the viewer at occasions. I think even the director is forced to remove Asif from rendering any dialog in that last shot. T G Ravi delivers yet another impressive piece of acting. Saiju Kurup, Anusree, Miya, Maria John, Sudheer, Jayakrishnan, Sunil Sugutha, Satish Menon, Suraaj Venjaramoodu, Meghna Raj and many others are there in the elaborate cast and all have done a fair job.

In the making, Salam is a promising director. Can’t see any unconventional approach from his side in making of the film. The style is quite typical and that makes the movie somewhat predictable. The script does not have any lag. But the loose ends in Anoop’s story are indeed a demerit. At occasions they try to give something for the fans to cheer like the scene where Mohanlal’s ACP character slaps the employee for asking about arrest warrant. Well those scenes in a sense spoil the beauty of the practically rendered scenes in the movie. Cinematography is satisfactory. Art direction is good and the edits are also impressive in this back and forth narrative. Songs are impressive. The main BGM theme is a good one, but at occasions the back ground score is slightly on the higher knot. The accident sequence involving Asif Ali was poorly executed.

Overall, Red wine is an average movie in terms of making. The story moves through various shades of innocence and selflessness, but sadly fails to concentrate on something. I am giving 2.5/5 for this derailed thriller and thumbs up to Fahad Faazil. No kick for this Red Wine.