Director: Dhyan Sreenivasan
The Malayalam film industry has been booming with great stories and films. Directors are writing strong roles without gender description and here is a film that was the biggest letdown from the industry that also released films like Uyarey, VIRUS, Ishq to name a few. Not that we are comparing movies from different genres. Romantic comedies are always a treat to watch but why does no writer come up with humour that is fresh and is not always bashing women? Why is it that stories in this genre always need to dumb down logic? It is disappointing to see that writers cannot come up with a better romantic comedy than in this.
Dinesh (Nivin Pauly) is a ruthless alcoholic who falls in love with Shoba (Nayanthara) when he meets her at his cousin’s wedding. However, Shoba lives in Chennai and Dinesh in Kerala. Dinesh decides to take up a course in Chennai to woo Shoba. He stalks her and finally gets to meet her, befriends her and makes her fall in love with him, DUH! However, his ruthless, impatient and the reactions of alcohol overdose comes forth creating all sorts of issues for the female lead because she asked him to completely STOP drinking and smoking. He would abuse her, his friend would abuse her after getting drunk, he would believe anything another man would say about her and quarrel with her. A man says, “Oh, she is with you now?” and that triggers Dinesh to question her character and degrade her father without letting her explain.
But, then all gets better after apologies and the duo get together. Okay, stop right there. This is a stark example of what a toxic relationship is. He has no understanding of his lover, he does not care of what her opinion is about his health, he is faint-hearted enough to believe what any man says because why not? And finally has the nerve to apologise to her and her father. He says, “I am possessive and I am angry because we have way too much of love and affection for each other.” No, really?
The irony is that Shoba is introduced as a feminist and yet she gives in to a relationship like this, is shocking!
Talking about the roles, both Nivin and Nayanthara shined as indivudals but there was just no chemistry between the two. Dinesh had more chemistry with his close buddy Sagar than he did with Shoba. The music and the background score was decent. The cinematography was definitely a winner of the film. The frames were stunning. The spontaneous jokes and limericks work too, making the audience crack up often.
To sum it all up, this is a lackluster narrative with absolutely no chemistry between the man and the woman. There is no story let alone a love story.
Verdict: Watch it for a little dose of entertainment.
Rating: 1.5/5