Review for KURUKKAN:
- REVIEW BY ARUNJYOTHI R
•Language: MALAYALAM
•Duration: 02 Hours 05 Minutes.
•Genre: Comedy Crime Thriller.
•POSITIVES:
1: Performance of Vineeth Sreenivasan
2: Cinematography
3: Editing
4: Songs
•NEGATIVES:
1: Direction
2: Story
3: Screenplay
4: Performance of Shine Tom Chacko
5: Courtroom scenes
6: Background Score
•ONE WORD: An investigative movie which has no impact.
•STORY IDEA:
The plot of the film starts with the murder of Neenu (Mareena Michael). Neenu is a famous social media influencer. She will be found dead in her home and Circle Inspector Dinesh (Vineeth Sreenivasan) will be given the duty to investigate the case. During the investigation, CI Dinesh will come to the conclusion that the newspaper boy Hari is the killer. To make the case stronger Dinesh will seek the help of Krishnan (Sreenivasan) who is often used by the police as a false eyewitness, so in the end, who will win the case?
•DETAIL REVIEW:
The film Kurukkan is directed by the newcomer Jayalal Divakaran and written by Manoj Ramsingh. The film is produced by Maha Subair under the production company of Varnachithra. The film has the star casting of Vineeth Sreenivasan, Sreenivasan, Shine Tom Chacko and Malavika Menon in the lead roles. From today the movie is currently in theatres with a censor certificate of clean ‘U’.
When Vineeth Sreenivasan and Sreenivasan joined together after the hit film ‘Aravindante Athidhikal’ for an investigative movie with a comedy backdrop I was having some expectations but after seeing the trailer the expectations went down. Still, the father-son combo of Vineeth Sreenivasan and Sreenivasan was giving me excitement because I was eager to know how they were going to act together and how their chemistry would work out. But unfortunately the film ‘Kurukkan’ had given me a big disappointment because of the worst direction and script. Honestly, I didn’t like the film, the movie was boring and as a movie which comes under the genre of comedy thriller the film had miserably failed to entertain. My reasons for disliking this film are plenty, so let’s review the movie ‘Kurukkan’ in detail.
The first negative factor of this film is the script, the script for this film is written by Manoj Ramsingh and it includes the story, screenplay and dialogues. I would say it’s one of the weaker scripts I have seen in recent times. The main problem associated with the script of Manoj Ramsingh is his writing has failed to create an impact. Basically, the movie is an investigative thriller filled with comedies so here both the police investigation and comedies in the script were poorly written. None of the scenes gave me a satisfying feeling and the investigation methods in the film looked amateurish.
As an investigative film, the movie should have the power to thrill the audience but in ‘Kurukkan’ no kind of thrill or excitement was felt. All the investigation scenes looked impractical and the lazy writing of the scriptwriter is the main reason for it. There are courtroom scenes in both the first and second half and the way the writer wrote those scenes was ridiculous. The court proceedings and the character of the Judge played by Srikant Murali were out of a sense. I think the writer Manoj Ramsingh has no idea about the court proceeding and how a Judge will represent the court. In this film, the courtroom scenes were like a mockery and both writer and director have failed to produce some authentic courtroom scenes.
When looking into the direction of Jayalal Divakaran I would say his way of filmmaking was average. The direction went flat in many areas and the issues of continuity were felt. The good thing about the direction of Jayalal Divakaran is he managed to utilize the acting talents of Vineeth Sreenivasan. Some of his comedies and the climax portion with an unexpected twist were directed moderately by Jayalal Divakaran. The film Kurukkan is having a big twist in the climax and both the director and writer brought an unexpected twist to surprise the audience. And I would say the twist in the climax was unexpected and I didn’t expect it. But for me, the climax twist didn’t give a shocking feel because the journey of this film from the very beginning till the climax is ineffective. The shoddy investigation and how the character played by Shine Tom Chacko gets involved in the investigation was unconvincing. So the unexpected twist in the climax went like normal and an impact was missing all over.
Next the comedies, for adding the humour the script was having plenty of places but it was not utilized well by the writer and director. The comedies were mediocre and the only thing that worked out was the few situational humours of Vineeth Sreenivasan. Also, the scenes of Aswath Lal and Sruthy Jayan were having decent situational comedies and their combination scenes with Vineeth Sreenivasan were good. But the director and writer were not successful in evoking laughter. As I said, some of the few scenes in the investigation and climax portions were the only scenes that worked out and the rest of them were overdramatic.
The biggest drawback of this movie is the character of Shine Tom Chacko. His character is the most crucial part of this film but sadly his character was not having the proper depth and efficiency to carry the movie forward. Also, I felt Shine Tom Chacko was a miscast because his attitude and body language was not fitting for the character. The acting of Shine Tom Chacko was flimsy and the way he acted in the courtroom scenes at the climax was unsuiting for the situation. Shine Tom Chacko’s dialogue delivery was average and the combination scene with Malavika Menon was boring. In the film, the character played by Shine Tom Chacko gets involved in a murder case and through his character, the movie finds the ultimate hidden truth. But how he gets involved in the case, how he finds out the truth and how he conducts the case in the court was filled with impractical and senseless scenes. Problems of logic and a kind of rushed writing had killed the character and also the unsatisfying performance of Shine Tom Chacko had failed to create an impact.
Looking into the positives, the first positive factor of this film is the performance of Vineeth Sreenivasan. His screen presence was the only element which helped me to finish this movie. It’s the first time I am seeing Vineeth Sreenivasan playing a police role and he has given a good convincing performance. Most of the comedies in the film didn’t work out for me but some of the situational humour of Vineeth Sreenivasan was fun to watch. His fun-filled character and the foolishness involved in his character were beautifully acted by Vineeth Sreenivasan. His energetic performance held the movie from not falling off. The climax portion had an unexpected twist and the way he acted in those scenes was entertaining.
Malavika Menon did a notable supporting performance, she was having moderate screen space but she had given an honest performance. Sreenivasan as the witness had given his best, we know his health condition is not proper so his overall performance was affected by his health issue. The acting of Sreenivasan in the courtroom scenes was impressive but his dubbing was average. Srikant Murali as the judge was not that great because in some portions I felt his acting was not matching the satire of a Judge. Dileep K Menon and Sudheer Karamana as the advocates did a great job and their acting was suiting the profession of advocates. The cinematography of Jibu Jacob was fair with decent frames and the editing of Ranjan Abraham didn’t give a lag or mismatched feel. The duration of the film didn’t feel stretched and the transition of the scene was properly edited out by Ranjan Abraham. The musical work was fine and the composer Unni Elayaraja delivered some good songs but his background score felt ordinary.
- CONCLUSION:
Therefore, due to the bad screenplay and direction, the movie ‘Kurukan’ had given me a disappointing experience. I didn’t like the movie, so I won’t recommend this half-baked movie to anyone. The only thing I liked about the movie was the performance of Vineeth Srinivasan and his acting. Maybe if the script and direction were done well, the movie would have been at least watchable so kindly you can watch the film ‘Kurukkan’ at your own risk.
•VERDICT: BELOW AVERAGE
•RATING: 2/5
- A REVIEW BY ARUNJYOTHI R
