Wonderful change of pace for actor Mammooty, whose talents haven't been as utilized of late (the same is true of his counterparts as well).
The plot itself is very simple and grounded with the travails of a self-centered upper middle class family, suddenly and unexpectedly forced to deal with something very bad that befalls them all, and how each of their arcs twists and turns to deal with it, along with trying to make sense of the other things in life, most of which all of them had turned a blind eye to, assuming they were impervious to it all. Though not too subtle, it gives us a glimpse into human nature, and does not make a martyr of anyone, and Mammooty should be lauded for playing a role with very grey shades for most of this flick's runtime (from that perspective, he did not have it as easy as Mohanlal did in 'Drishyam', since that focused more on the lead's smarts, and though some consider there were grey shades to it, IMO, it was pure 'Doodh ka dhula' white).
Asha Sharath, who was fantastic as the focused cop-mom on 'Drishyam', give an equally powerful performance over here, and I sure hope we get to see her in more meaty roles in the future too. She plays both an able foil to Mammooty's character, as well as more than holds her own in key sequences, sometimes just by being there. Very well-written.
Mamta Mohandas gets a very strong supporting role, and though her character feels kinda shoehorned in within the context of 2 key sequences, her presence and performance make us ignore that convenience, and file it under 'artistic license'.
Among the negatives, the score is pathetic, but more on that later. My biggest grouse was how this overstayed its welcome, and that fact makes it inferior to 'Drishyam', at least in my book. After a key sequence and a small 'twist', which would have been a great time to wind things up, the makers decide to have a lengthy epilogue (yeah, without calling it that). I have as much patience as the next aficionado, and am not a typical mainstream flick frequenter, but the makers, esp. the editor, have totally missed the bus on that aspect.
Making the protagonists upper middle class was also perhaps not necessary (smacks of pandering towards production design making everything seem sleek), but it's better than making them upper class. On the other hand, staying in that milieu might also be responsible for reinforcing their sense of being 'privileged' enough not to bother much about how the bottom rung lives. Once again, benefit of doubt goes to the makers.
The background score is pretty bad, and if anything ever screamed out for re-scoring (remember, 'Drive', one of the best movies knows for its BGS, has been re-scored - I don't know why), then this is it, literally, and figuratively.
All in all, a very good way to spend your time at the cinema, provided you are not expecting mindless mainstream fare, and are equipped to deal with some dark themes as well.
The plot itself is very simple and grounded with the travails of a self-centered upper middle class family, suddenly and unexpectedly forced to deal with something very bad that befalls them all, and how each of their arcs twists and turns to deal with it, along with trying to make sense of the other things in life, most of which all of them had turned a blind eye to, assuming they were impervious to it all. Though not too subtle, it gives us a glimpse into human nature, and does not make a martyr of anyone, and Mammooty should be lauded for playing a role with very grey shades for most of this flick's runtime (from that perspective, he did not have it as easy as Mohanlal did in 'Drishyam', since that focused more on the lead's smarts, and though some consider there were grey shades to it, IMO, it was pure 'Doodh ka dhula' white).
Asha Sharath, who was fantastic as the focused cop-mom on 'Drishyam', give an equally powerful performance over here, and I sure hope we get to see her in more meaty roles in the future too. She plays both an able foil to Mammooty's character, as well as more than holds her own in key sequences, sometimes just by being there. Very well-written.
Mamta Mohandas gets a very strong supporting role, and though her character feels kinda shoehorned in within the context of 2 key sequences, her presence and performance make us ignore that convenience, and file it under 'artistic license'.
Among the negatives, the score is pathetic, but more on that later. My biggest grouse was how this overstayed its welcome, and that fact makes it inferior to 'Drishyam', at least in my book. After a key sequence and a small 'twist', which would have been a great time to wind things up, the makers decide to have a lengthy epilogue (yeah, without calling it that). I have as much patience as the next aficionado, and am not a typical mainstream flick frequenter, but the makers, esp. the editor, have totally missed the bus on that aspect.
Making the protagonists upper middle class was also perhaps not necessary (smacks of pandering towards production design making everything seem sleek), but it's better than making them upper class. On the other hand, staying in that milieu might also be responsible for reinforcing their sense of being 'privileged' enough not to bother much about how the bottom rung lives. Once again, benefit of doubt goes to the makers.
The background score is pretty bad, and if anything ever screamed out for re-scoring (remember, 'Drive', one of the best movies knows for its BGS, has been re-scored - I don't know why), then this is it, literally, and figuratively.
All in all, a very good way to spend your time at the cinema, provided you are not expecting mindless mainstream fare, and are equipped to deal with some dark themes as well.