Malayalam Movie Winter Review
Producer- K.Radhakrishnan
Cast- Jayaram, Bhavana, Manoj.K.Jayan, T.G.Ravi, Vijayakumar, Jayan, Vijeesh etc.
Story, screenplay, dialogues- Dipu
Review by – Unni
‘Winter’, director Dipu’s debut film (his second ‘Crazy Gopalan’ had been released earlier), is in fact nothing new, theme-wise. A psychopath on a killing spree, specializing in slitting the throats of little kids, gets killed as his car crashes during a hot chase by the cops. Years later, a doctor, his wife and two kids (one of them with some unexplained psychological disorder) comes to stay in the very same bungalow where the psychopath stayed and which at present is reportedly haunted by his ghost. And then a series of eerie happenings moving towards an unexpected climax. This is the story in a nutshell; and it’s to be pointed out that ‘Winter’ is no ghost movie, though it’s made like one.
Coming to the review part, the first question that looks you in the face is- Why and for whom did Dipu make the movie? ‘Winter’ is taut, slick and pacy. It’s technically brilliant. The story is narrated brilliantly. The performances are all good. But what does Dipu want to convey through the movie? It seems there is an element of confusion there. Still, the film is definitely worth a watch, for it’s got more of plusses than minuses.
Performances
Jayaram and Bhavana (playing Dr. Ramdas and his wife Shyama) have done full justice to their roles. Vijayakumar, as ACP Saju, is his very usual self while Manoj.K.Jayan is good and so is T.G.Ravi. Vijeesh is his usual self.
Technical aspects
‘Winter’, made four years back, is technically brilliant. Cinematography, by Ramakrishna Gummidi, is simply excellent. And so is the editing by Arun Kumar is good. It’s the sound-mixing that stands out as far as the technical aspects are concerned.
Music
The background score by Benny, though of the usual kind, suits the mood and the tempo of the film. The only song, written by Anil Panachooran and set to tune by Rajakrishnan, too is good.
Script
It’s the script that proves to be the main villain as far as the film’s totality is concerned. Director Dipu himself has penned the story, screenplay and dialogues for ‘Winter’ and it’s to be said that the story indeed is fine, with the writer not bothering to give explanations to each and every aspect, which if done could have made the proceedings intolerable. The dialogues are also good. But on the screenplay side, Dipu could have sought the help of someone else too and made it a bit different. There are scenes that could have been avoided (like the doorbell ringing too often, making the audience laugh rather than get startled), scenes that could have been worked better so as not to seem clichéd.
Direction
It’s the direction that stands out as one of the major highlights of ‘Winter’. As director, Dipu is in full control of things and has crafted the movie well. Every scene, every shot is canned well, though many could have been conceived better (that’s the screenplay side anyhow). Hats off to the young director!
Overall verdict- Worth a watch!