Producer- B Sarath Chandran
Director- Johny Antony
Cast- Prithviraj, Sasikumar, Biju Menon, Salim Kumar, Piya Bajpai, Ananya etc
Music- Gopi Sundhar
Written – Jinu Abraham
Review By : Unni R Nair/ Kerala9.com
I went to watch ‘Masters’ with much expectation, but to be honest I must say that I was more disappointed than satisfied. Was it because I expected too much out of the movie after watching its trailers and also expected much because Prithviraj and ‘Subrahmanyapuram’ Sasikumar were coming together in lead roles? Or is the movie just average stuff? Forgetting my preconceptions and my expectations what I feel is, the film is OK, just OK for a one-time watch, but at the same time it’s an opportunity gone waste. It was a casting coup of sorts- Prithviraj, Sasikumar, Biju Menon, Ananya, Piya Bajpai, Salim Kumar; but the end result is not that impressive.
Johny Antony being the director and ‘Masters’ being a movie made for the masses and the box office, I’d have to take into account each actor in it and the way they have been used or misused. At the same time, from a critic’s point of view, I must also analyse it as a film forgetting its star-cast and box office aspects. Both ways, I’d say ‘Masters’ is just OK kind of stuff.
Sree Ramakrishnan (Prithviraj), who is a police officer and Milan Paul (Sasikumar), who is a journalist, have been friends from their college days itself. Today they stand together and carry a joint combat against criminals and the corrupt. Milan is always there to help Sree Ramakrishnan out and vice versa too. They also carry out their individual fights in their respective domains. It’s then that a series of murders take place. In each case, the killer perishes along with the person murdered and Sree Ramakrishnan is in charge of the investigation. He has to find out if these murders are connected or not and he also has to prevent killings that may happen in continuation. It’s not an easy task and Sree Ramakrishnan is out to accomplish it.
Well, that is the plot, in a nutshell. Sounds great, isn’t it? The script-writer Jinu Abraham has made it different, but somewhere there are flaws. Half-time comes in about and hour’s time and you feel that except from it being a series of murders and the murders being done in ‘suicide killing’ fashion, it’s all just so so. You expect it to catch fire in the post-interval section and return to your seats. It does catch fire, but it doesn’t keep you on the edge of your seats and it doesn’t thrill you. You end up feeling the very same thing could have been done in a different way. You end up realizing that being an avid film watcher yourself, you had begun to expect the ‘twist’ somewhere down the line and the ‘twist’ is almost the same as what you had expected. Well, there are things that lead you to expect this ‘twist’, but sorry I can’t discuss that since that would amount to revealing the suspense, which however didn’t thrill me greatly.
I just feel the film could have been done differently and the presence of so many talented and popular stars could have been utilized well. We end up asking ourselves, “Why did they bring in Sasikumar?” We feel any actor could have handled that role and maybe someone like Narain or Jayasurya would have been better. We feel Biju Menon, Salim Kumar and Jagathy Sreekumar go unnoticed and their talents unexploited. To be honest, I walked out of the theatre discontented and a bit disappointed.
Performances
Prithviraj is good as Sree Ramakrishnan, but he doesn’t do anything outstanding. Sasikumar lets you down; perhaps it’s the way the character has been conceived and perhaps it’s the flaw in the dubbing done that makes his performance not up to the mark. Biju Menon comes and goes, has nothing to do. Same with Jagathy Sreekumar. Ananya is good and Piya also is good, though they don’t have much to do. Same about most others.
Technical aspects
All the technicians have done their jobs in tune with the theme and the plot of the film.
Music
The background score jells with the theme, but the songs are unimpressive.
Script
I’d give a mixed verdict for the script. Debutant Jinu Abraham, in all likelihood, may evolve into a good script-writer in the years to come, he shows promise. With ‘Masters’ anyhow, he could have made it a bit more slick and fast-moving. He could have made it real edge-of-the-seat stuff. He could have worked more on the characterization aspect. He could have made Sasikumar’s character and the climax much more convincing and powerful. Or maybe he could have worked out a different ‘twist’, because some people at least, like me, start guessing it out at a stage and sans the twist, the film is just so so. All the best Jinu, in your next film.
Direction
Johny Antony is in control of things, but with the script that was at hand, he could perhaps have worked it out in a better way. That would have made the film much better. And he could also have made sure that Sasikumar, who has earned a reputation for himself among film-goers in Kerala, was utilized in a better way in his first outing in Malayalam.
Verdict: Just so so… Sasikumar’s entry into Malayalam wasted. Film could have been better.
Rating: 2.5/5