REVIEW 745: UNDER WORLD

Release date:	Kerala: November 1, 2019 Delhi: November 8, 2019
Director:	Arun Kumar Aravind
Cast: Language:	Asif Ali, Farhan Faasil, Mukesh, Lal Jr, Samyuktha Menon, Muthumani Malayalam

Under World’s keenness to be grand and imposing screams out of every cell of its being. It manifests itself in the grandiose lines its characters utter and the angles the cinematographer favours while shooting them. In the end though, the film is as empty as the character played by Mukesh, a septuagenarian politician in jail on corruption charges and from whose words it appears that he is in control of the world he left behind: his ultimate fate proves that he is, in truth, an all-bombast-no-intelligence kind of fellow. Like Under World itself, he amounts to nothing.

Asif Ali here stars as Stalin John, a hooligan and a petty criminal with an inflated sense of self-importance. Farhaan Faasil is Majeed Abdul Rahman, a ruffian for hire. The two end up in the same jail where Mukesh’s Padmanabhan Nair is lodged. Initially, they clash but soon become unlikely allies primed for an assignment from Nair. Lal Jr is Solomon, in whose custody Nair left the Rs 500 crore he filched for which he lost his freedom.

Apart from some atmospheric background music and one slickly executed mobike chase, Under World has little going for it. Ali, Faasil and Mukesh are earnest, but the writing of their characters is too superficial for them to make a lasting impact. So sketchy are they that you deserve a prize if you can make out why Stalin’s lawyer Padmavati (played by Muthumani) cares so much for him.

For the record, Padmavati is the only woman with a notable presence in this narrative. The charismatic Samyuktha Menon from Theevandi is criminally wasted here in a minuscule role.

There are a few seconds here and there when it feels like Under World may perhaps lift itself out of its ordinariness to become something more than a waste of time. Such as when a fugitive loses his mother who he loves and realises that the mere act of attending her funeral is a risk. Or earlier when he sits negotiating with a young woman who becomes collateral damage in a cheque bouncing case against him. Or in the otherwise unscrupulous Solomon’s affection for his wife and child.

Writer Shibin Francis does not have the depth to flesh out these thoughts though. The only nice thing that can be said about the writing is that Under World is not sickening, crude and prejudiced like other recent films of this genre such as The Great Father starring Mammootty, Mikhael starring Nivin Pauly and Kalki starring Tovino Thomas.

Even the one instance when it tries to shock with its violence is almost laughable because of the rubbery look of the severed supposed human limb shown on camera. When Solomon chops off a man’s hand in Stalin and Majeed’s presence, we are given not one, not two, not three but four close-ups of that hand (correct me if there are more), in addition to other shots. Again in the name of realism I suppose, earlier when a companion of Majeed throws up after drinking, the camera stands bang in front of him, giving us a clear view of the puke emerging from his mouth and his vomit-covered tongue. Uff.

These instances of pretentiousness suggest that the single genuinely memorable moment in Under World happened by accident. When a policeman commits an act of unspeakable violence against an important character about half way through the film, instead of moving near plus embellishing the sound design to underline what we are witnessing, the audio chooses not to be exploitative, the camera moves away and we are given a distant overhead shot as a man steps on another’s spine and a torso caves in. It is a moment that made me freeze with horror yet did not feel voyeuristic.

The rest of Under World shows a complete lack of imagination and implies a desire on Arun Kumar Aravind’s part to join the club of masala directors to which Haneef Adeni belongs. Even the title is unimaginative, and the random splitting of the word looks like a last-ditch effort to salvage it. Call it Under World or Underworld if you will, either way it is under-done.

Rating (out of five stars): 1/2

CBFC Rating (India):	UA
Running time:	160 minutes

This review has also been published on Firstpost:

https://www.firstpost.com/entertainment/under-world-movie-review-the-shooting-of-an-act-of-unspeakable-violence-is-the-only-imaginative-moment-in-this-generic-asif-ali-starrer-7632411.html

Visual courtesy: https://www.facebook.com/ActorAsifAli/

REVIEW 738: EDAKKAD BATTALION 06

Release date:	October 18, 2019
Director:	Swapnesh K. Nair
Cast: Language:	Tovino Thomas, Samyuktha Menon, Santhosh Keezhattoor, Salim Kumar Malayalam

I doubt that Lijo Jose Pellissery would have expected amusement as a reaction to Jallikattu, yet halfway through Swapnesh K. Nair’s Edakkad Battalion 06, I found myself laughing out loud at the contrast between this film and Pellissery’s new release that I had watched just hours earlier. Jallikattu strides purposefully towards the many points it wishes to make, Edakkad B06 waffles on and on. Jallikattu is trim, Edakkad B06 is flabby. Jallikattu has clarity of thought, Edakkad B06 wanders about in a confusing state. Most important, you may like or dislike, agree or disagree with Jallikattu, but you have to admit that it is pointed and sharp. Edakkad Battalion 06, on the other hand, is as dull as hell.  

The chasm separating these two films getting to theatres across India on the same day is a perfect illustration of how Malayalam cinema has for long swung wildly between extremes in terms of quality.

Edakkad Battalion 06 is set in a small town in Kerala where Captain Shafeek Mohammed of the Indian Army is home on vacation from a posting in the strife-torn north. Here he comes up against a bunch of no-good youngsters drifting through life and gets acquainted with the drug menace plaguing local youth. His passing concern grows into greater involvement in the problem when he learns that someone close to him is an addict.

The first visual of Tovino Thomas as Shafeek is preceded by a long-winded introduction to multiple characters in the story accompanied by sketches of the actors playing them. You might imagine that this will then be a busy film with each of these seemingly interesting men and women playing a significant role in the plot. Curb your imagination, dear reader, because the team of this film lacks it. 

That intro – like so much else in Edakkad Battalion 06 – could have been shaved off without particularly impacting the film beyond reducing its length. Because when the narrative is rolled out, none of these characters is treated with any depth. Not even Naina Fathima, a teacher who has made a mark while working with differently abled students, and is played by Samyuktha Menon. 

Thomas and Menon had sparkled and shone together as a screen couple in Theevandi.  Her role in Edakkad Battalion 06 is so small, so generic and so marginal, that she can do little to lift it beyond the ordinary despite her good looks and undeniable charisma. 

Menon could have been replaced by any random pretty woman without the change making an inch of a difference to this film, since the only purpose she serves here is to look nice, and give the male lead a woman to fall in love with, while Naina’s profession sets the stage for a dramatic rescue by our hero early in the narrative and later for some children with disabilities to be dragged into what must rank as one of the most offensively emotionally manipulative, nauseatingly mushy, poorly written film endings ever seen. 

The plot of Edakkad Battalion 06 feels like a contrived stringing together of disconnected sub-plots. Shafeek’s interactions with his extended family, his romance with Naina, his work as an Armyman in a terrorism-stricken state and his confrontation with drug peddlers back home do not flow smoothly from one to the other, nor is any of these elements written with any detail. As a result when they are thrown together they feel like an odd, bland mishmash.

Women actors in most film industries, and in Malayalam cinema more than most, have limited choices, but male stars wield considerable clout, so while Menon could be let off lightly, Thomas should certainly be held accountable for his decision to pick this sub-par script. The charming young actor’s filmography so far is packed with sweet, gentle cinema. Even when he did the horrendous Kalki earlier this year, it was possible to guess his reason for having chosen it: an evident desire to be catapulted into the biggest of big leagues in Mollywood although he is already a major star. What could he possibly have seen in Edakkad Battalion 06 though? The search for the answer may well inspire a mystery writer. 

If you deign to check the credits of this soporific film, you may be startled to discover, as I was, that it has been scripted by P. Balachandran whose writing credits include the stupendous Kammatipaadam. A trough following a crest in a wave is a natural phenomenon, but can science please explain how Edakkad Battalion 06 could possibly follow Kammatipaadam from the same writer? Seriously, how?

Rating (out of five stars): *

CBFC Rating (India):	UA
Running time:	111 minutes

This review has also been published on Firstpost:

https://www.firstpost.com/entertainment/edakkad-battalion-06-movie-review-tovino-thomas-and-samyuktha-menon-are-re-paired-for-a-lame-ode-to-notsurewhat-7525951.html

Visuals courtesy: https://www.facebook.com/EdakkadBattalion06official/

REVIEW 719: KALKI

Release date:	Kerala: August 8, 2019 Delhi: August 9, 2019
Director:	Praveen Prabharam
Cast: Language:	Tovino Thomas, Samyuktha Menon, Saiju Kurup, Hareesh Uthaman, K.P.A.C. Lalitha, Shivajith Padmanabhan Malayalam

As if it isn’t heartbreaking enough that Nivin Pauly did that obnoxious film Mikhael this year, Tovino Thomas goes and does this one.

To be fair, Mikhael’s loudness is child’s play in comparison with Kalki’s repugnant celebration of extreme violence. This is a film that uses crushed bones, twisted joints and sliced off body parts as a tool for both humour and moralising, in what must rank as one of the most disgusting cinematic odes to bloodshed ever seen.

Imagine what Kalki must be if one of the dominant motifs in its sound design is the gurgling and bubbling of blood just as it begins to pour out of bodies ripped apart by various characters including the ‘hero’.

Imagine this moment, designed as comedy, when a policeman with a sobre demeanour carries a blood-spattered chainsaw to this ‘hero’, explains that one of the villain’s legs has now been cut off and asks permission to cut off the second leg too since they are paying rent for the tool anyway. The boss gives his assent.

If that ‘hero’ had been played by Mammootty or Mohanlal, perhaps one could live with it. After all, the two M’s have allowed their careers to rest largely on ugly machismo and physical invincibility in the past couple of decades. The disappointment here arises from the fact that the protagonist is young Tovino Thomas whose stardom has been built primarily with thoughtful films like Godha, Mayaanadhi, Virus and Luca.

In a town called Nanchenkotta in Kalki, an upright policeman called Vyshakhan commits suicide, unable to take the humiliation meted out by the criminal overlord Amarnath and his flunkeys who rule the region. Amarnath has ties to the senior politician Vijayanandhan whose extremist party DYP has driven out the Tamils in the area. With elections approaching and alliances being sewed up, all lines are crossed until a new S.I. takes Vyshakhan’s seat. Played by Thomas, this policeman remains unnamed till the end, identified simply as K on his badge and nameplate and as Kalki by the soundtrack.

You get an idea of where this film is headed in his introductory scene when he sets a hooligan on fire while a signature song is screeched out in the background. This is the sort of raucous number packed with silly English lines that a certain kind of Malayalam filmmaker seems to think is a signifier of super coolth.

Like Mikhael’s laughable referencing of Christian mythology, Kalki too takes a shot at intellectualism. So of course the title comes from the name of the tenth and final avatar of the Hindu deity Vishnu: the swordsman Kalki who is expected to descend on the world to end Kalyug, a dismal, destructive phase of human existence. There is potential for such great storytelling with a modern-day interpretation of Kalki, but writer-director Praveen Prabharam (who has co-written this film with Sujin Sujathan) is not one for nuance and deep thought. And so his Kalki is so bloody and lawless that the only distinction between Amarnath’s gang and him is that he stands with a marginalised people, the laudable ends being offered as justification for his condemnable means. If cinema reflects reality, then Kalki is a reflection of a real-life Kalyug that upholds a 56-inch male chest as a virtue.

In one scene, K virtually lists as a plus point in his favour the fact that he is in the home of one of his enemies but has not raped the women of the family. This is Prabharam’s version of Ishq’s horrifying second half.

As is the case with male actors in all such Malayalam films, Tovino Thomas deadpans and poses around throughout Kalki. So do all the men playing the antagonists. The only actor who gets something out of this script is Saiju Kurup in the role of an idealist.

The lovely Samyuktha Menon has not much to do here. She appears to have been cast in the role of K’s bete noir’s daughter only because her pairing with Thomas in Theevandi drew acclaim. From the little that we see of her Dr Sangeetha, she seems like a feisty creature, but we get to see so little. The women of this film are mere sidelights in a man’s world.

Everyone in Kalki is relegated to the background as K / Thomas strides across the screen framed in stereotypical low-angle shots, playing with his Ray-Bans, the earth stopping to listen to the crunching sound of his slippers touching the ground, all while ear-splitting music overwhelms the narrative.

Even K is not the central figure of this film though. The central figure is DoP Gautham Sankar who captures in excruciating detail Amarnath stabbing his first victim and ripping his torso by dragging the dagger all the way down to the stomach in an action that we soon discover is his MO, a meat cleaver severing a man’s nose, a head being smashed against a metal pillar, and more.

You too, Tovino Thomas?

Rating (out of five stars): 1/4

CBFC Rating (India):	UA
Running time:	141 minutes

This review has also been published on Firstpost:

https://www.firstpost.com/entertainment/kalki-movie-review-tovino-thomass-repugnant-take-on-the-violent-larger-than-life-cliched-hero-7141671.html

Visuals courtesy: https://www.facebook.com/kalkithemovie/