Malayalam Movie Race Review

Movie Name – Race
Producer– Jose.K.George, Shaji Mecheri
Director– Kukku Surendran
Cast– Kunchacko Boban, Indrajith, Mamta Mohandas, Gowri Munjal, Jagathy Sreekumar etc.
Music- Viswajith
Background score- Gopi Sundar
Lyrics- Vayalar Sharath Chandra Varma, Rajeev Nair
Cinematography- Pramod Varma
Story- Kukku Surendran
Screenplay- Kukku Surendran, Robin Thirumala
Dialogues- Robin Thirumala

Review by – Unni / www.Kerala9.com

Two scenes into the movie and I was almost sure that ‘Race’ was a remake of the Irfan Khan- Rajit Kapoor- Konkona Sen starrer Hindi film ‘Deadline 24 Ghante’ (which was obviously inspired by the English movie ‘Trapped’). The Kunchacko Boban- Indrajith- Mamta Mohandas starrer ‘Race’, which is almost a straight lift, has elements that make it seem very similar to ‘Cocktail’, which too was a scene-by-scene adaptation of the Hollywood flick ‘Butterfly on the Wheel’. But compared to ‘Cocktail’, ‘Race’ falters on many points and seems not totally up to the mark. Of course it’s not too bad either.

‘Race’ tells the story of Dr. Eby John (Kunchacko Boban) and his wife Niya (Mamta Mohandas), who are face-to-face with a big crisis. Eby, who is a well-known cardiologist, is away in Bangalore while his daughter Achumol is kidnapped and Niya finds herself face-to-face with a guy named Niranjan (Indrajith), who has crept into her house and who now holds her hostage. In the meantime Shwetha (Gowri Munjal), who is Niranjan’s accomplice, gets into Eby’s hotel room in Bangalore and holds him there at gun point and with threats. Eby in Bangalore and Niya in Kerala are cornered and rendered helpless as their daughter is already kidnapped and with Niranjan’s accomplice Eldo (Jagathy Sreekumar). They know that they have no way out; the only thing that they can do is to give in to the demands of Niranjan and his accomplices. They demand a ransom of Rs. 1 crore, which later is increased to 2 crores and then to 3 crores. The story takes off from here.

It’s not wrong to lift a movie and adapt it scene-by-scene. ‘Cocktail’ was one such movie, but the script was well worked out and the film well directed. The performances too were excellent and the film was a treat to watch. But ‘4 Friends’, which was inspired by ‘The Bucket List’, was a real disaster. As for ‘Race’, which is almost scene-to-scene adaptation of ‘Deadline 24 Ghante’, is just about OK. It could have been better, much better and much more lively.
Performances
Indrajith does his role very well. It can’t be said that he doesn’t do justice to his role, but compared to Irfan’s performance in ‘Deadline 24 Ghante’, Indrajith’s performance can of course be said to be unimpressive. Kunchacko Boban does his role perfectly well and Mamta is her usual self Gowri Munjal seems uncomfortable with her role while Jagathy too is just so so.
Technical aspects
The technical aspects- cinematography, editing etc- are in tune with the theme and the plot.
Music
Background score suits the mood while the song, the theme song that accompanies the title, is not up to the mark.
Script
It’s the script, penned jointly by Kukku Surendran and Robin Thirumala and the dialogues, penned by Robin Thirumala, that play foil. Had the script been better and had the dialogues been crispier, the film would have been better.
Direction
Kukku Surendran, who had earlier directed ‘Oraal’ and ‘Veeralipattu’, is in control of things, to an extent. But he could either have gone in for an original subject or else could have seen to it that the script suited the subject that he had lifted.
Overall verdict- Average…poor script. Not much chance at box office.
Rating: 2.5/5

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