Swathanthriyam Ardharathriyil

The script of Swathanthriyam Ardharathriyil depends a lot on the execution and the movie feels like an appreciable effort because of that. You sort of tend to root for the making of debutant Tinu Pappachan as it looks sincere and thus Swathanthriyam Ardharathriyil becomes that engaging prison break film with a script that isn’t entirely foolproof.

Jacob is our main protagonist. He was the manager of a financing biggie. A situation arises when the girl he wanted to marry got involved in a criminal case were a policeman was the culprit. A tussle between the policeman and Jacob ends up in some unfortunate incidents and eventually Jacob lands up in jail. The charges on him were so strong that the only way for a quick escape was jail breaking. How Jacob plans and executes that prison break is the movie Swathanthriyam Ardharathriyil talking about.

The format of the script isn’t an entirely exciting one and I think writer Dileep Kurian knows that. And how he manages to add an element of excitement to the tale is by adding certain hurdles in front of the hero’s plans at regular intervals of time. That along with the way the ambience of a prison has been captured in the movie keeps us invested in the proceedings. There are minimal tweaks in typical elements that will make you appreciate the film to an extent, for eg, the scene where the police bus gets parked near the prison wall. But there are a lot of unanswered questions that will make you feel that it isn’t completely foolproof.

Antony Varghese plays the role of Jacob and in a way Jacob is an extension of Pepe. He gets into the skin of the character and presents the character with the required amount of attitude. Vinayakan plays a rough inmate and Chemban Vinod Jose takes care of the humor in a role much similar to his role in Sapthamashree Thaskaraha:. Rajesh Sharma as the jail head was good. Marshal Titto Wilson is there along with almost all the faces we have seen in Angamaly Diaries.

Tinu Pappachan, much like his Guru Lijo Jose Pellissery has got style and he knows the need of a director’s craft in the making of a movie. There are a lot of subplots in the tale that mainly gets opened up in the beginning and the script’s failure to contain them convincingly becomes a drawback. Gireesh Gangadharan adds style and darkness to the treatment and with an impressive sound design, the developments does look authentic. Jakes Bejoy’s background music is also a commendable one as it keeps us engrossed. Shameer Muhammed’s cuts were also pretty effective.

Swathanthriyam Ardharathriyil is a well made film in the technical aspect. Tinu Pappachan has managed to lift the screenplay from the average zone to an interesting level. The disappointment of the movie not becoming a whistle worthy thriller is definitely there. But still it’s worth a watch.

Rating: 3/5