Producer– Amal Neerad, V.Jayasurya
Director– Amal Neerad
Cast– Asif Ali, Nithya Menen, Indrajith, Rahman, Kalabhavan Mani, Vinayagan, Prithviraj etc.
Music– Rahul Raj
Cinematography :Amal Neerad
Editing by :Vivek Harshan
Review By : Unni R Nair/ Kerala9.com
Amal Neerad should stop making such films!
I won’t say Amal Neerad can’t make good films; he has it in him. He just gets carried away with technicalities, especially the trademark slow motion shots that say it loud and clear that it’s an Amal Neerad film. (Well, there is a dialogue in the film ridiculing this, but still he couldn’t do without it and has marred it all!)
So what’s ‘Bachelor Party’ all about? Some gun firing shots and slow-motion shots. What else?! Where’s the story? What’s the theme? Where does it head to? The film seems to crash land even before it has had a proper, smooth flight…
Ayyappan, Benny, Geevar, Tony and Fakir have been friends since their childhood. Little Tony had always been a headache to the others in the gang, always landing them in trouble. Now that they are all grown up, it’s almost the same. Tony (Asif Ali) comes seeking Benny (Rahman) and Geevar (Indrajith); he needs help as he is in love with Neetu (Nithya Menen) and needs to save her from the clutches of her foster father Prakash Kammath (John Vijay). Ayyappan and Fakir are Kammath’s bodyguards; that complicates the issue. But with Tony’s help, Benny and Geevar manage to shoot down Kammath when Ayyappan and Fakir are not there. Tony gets married to Neetu and they start living a happy life. But then Kammath hasn’t died; he survives the attack and gets ready to nab Tony. He gets the notion that Ayyappan and Fakir had helped Tony. So, to clear the air, Ayyappan and Fakir set out to bring Tony. Benny and Geevar also arrive, pledged to protect Tony at all costs. Finally the five friends join hands and set out on another mission, following the success of which they would set out to settle things with Kammath, if possible in an amicable manner. But then, no one can predict the future and things take a very different turn for them…
I’d say that till half-time, I wasn’t bored; the proceedings seemed quite engaging. I even hoped that ‘Bachelor Party’ would be better than Amal Neerad’s ‘Anwar’ and ‘Sagar alias Jackie’. But then, post-interval, all hell seemed to break loose, culminating in an atrocious song (along with the end credits), supposedly taking place in hell. My cousin Nandakumar, who had finished watching the film at another theatre half an hour earlier, had texted me, “Flee the hall before the movie ends!”. I should have paid heed to Nandu’s good-hearted advice and thus would have been saved from being terribly disappointed. But then, a reviewer doesn’t have the liberty to flee the hall before the film ends!!
So, what the makers of ‘Bachelor Party’ have to realize is that cinema is not just about being technically perfect and giving great shots. They are mere appendages to something bigger, which has to be conceived and worked out in a different manner. As of now, the impression that one gets is that ‘Bachelor Party’ has been conceived first in the form of some scattered well-composed shots, some brilliant and unconventional song sequences etc and then a plot (for namesake perhaps) woven into it. The acting part was good, the technical aspects excellent, the music and songs good, the director very much in command of the visuals and frames- but then, the film lacked its soul, the very vital foundation on which it all rests, a sound script. No good story, no good script, ‘Bachelor Party’ thus ends up being a terrible mess… I guess I won’t want to write more on it…
Performance
Almost ever key actor in the film is good, performance-wise and as regards looks. Asif has done a neat job, Nithya Menen acts commendably well; Kalabhavan Mani looks great and Vinayagan is good. But top score, in my view, goes to Rahman. He puts in a wonderful performance and next in the line come Indrajith and Asif. Remya Nambeeshan appears in just a song and another scene, does a good job of it, but you start wondering what it was all about. Prithviraj has nothing much to do in the whole proceedings.
Technical aspects
Oh no! Great frames, thanks to cinematographer Amal Neerad; but I’d wish the film didn’t have such good frames. It’s these frames, or rather the obsession with these, that spoilt the ‘party’. So much of slow shots tests your patience!! Well, editing is fine, art-work is great. But alas! All this goes wasted!!
Music
Rahul Raj scores good music. A couple of the songs are good; the background score syncs perfectly with the theme (?!) and mood.
Script
What a mess!! That’s what I’d like to say about the script. Incoherent parts woven together to form a whole that at the most dazzles you and leaves you desiring for more, much much more… No marks to the writers.
Direction
Amal Neerad scores as cinematographer, but as director, he is yet to learn his lessons, despite making it all go wrong with three derailed films in a row. ‘Big B’ I had liked; it kindled hopes of changes in Malayalam Cinema, which of course happened later. But then, Amal Neerad seemed to be repeating himself after his ‘Sagar alias Jackie’, which was far from being impressive. Why does he have to repeat himself, in every way? The slow shots, the almost similar kind of song sequences, the song and dance along with the end-credits- Amal is 100 percent predictable. Moreover, a director has to be careful about choosing the story and the script. With ‘Bachelor Party’, what every sensible viewer would like to ask the director is- “Well, what is the story? Where is the script?”. Better luck next time!!
Verdict: Terrible mess!! You’d better stay home…
Rating: 1/5