Review for KAAVAL:
•Language: MALAYALAM.
•Duration: 02 Hours 28 Minutes.
•Genre: ACTION THRILLER.
•Theatre: JB CINEMAS KOLLAM.
• REVIEW BY ARUNJYOTHI.R.VALIYAVEETIL.
•POSITIVES:
1: Dialogues.
2: Performance of actors.
3: Music and background score.
4: Editing.
•NEGATIVES:
1: Average Direction.
2: Outdated Storyline.
3: Mediocre Screenplay.
4: Predictable Ending.
5: Poor Actions and Stunts.
6: Cinematography.
•ONE WORD: A movie that failed to create an impact by the outdated writing and poor making.
• DETAIL REVIEW:
1: STORY IDEA:
Thampan (Suresh Gopi) and Antony (Renji Panicker) are long-time friends and business partners who run a sawmill at Kattappana, both of them share a great bond themselves, like brothers. Soon an unexpected incident that happened in their life will make them separate. Soon Antony and his family will come across some tragic situations and he is forced to seek the help of Thampan, rest of the story unfolds the protection from Thampan to save Antony’s family.
2: ANALYSIS INTO DIRECTION, STORY, SCREENPLAY & DIALOGUES:
Kaaval is directed by Nithin Renji Panicker who had previously directed the hit film Kasaba is now back with Suresh Gopi and he also handles the story, screenplay and dialogues. The movie is produced by Joby Geroge under his production company called Goodwill Entertainments. The film with a running time of 148 minutes is a comeback of Suresh Gopi with an avatar to do an action hero character.
The making and writing is the prior unfavourable negative factor of Kaaval. The direction by Nithin Renji Panicker was sadly average, suffered mainly at the making, the way he executed the film was not at all having any impact. I was excited to watch Kaaval because I was expecting to see Suresh Gopi in a pack filled action avatar but unfortunately the director Nithin Renji Panicker hasn’t used the skills of Suresh Gopi effectively. The making looks normal, even though the story was outdated the screenplay was having the situations to make the movie mass and energetic but Nithin’s ordinary making made the movie looks average and dull. In the early days, when Renji Panicker was directing he had effectively used the skills of Suresh Gopi to make him a mass hero and his movies were completely thrilling but sadly his son Nithin the director of Kaaval is not up to the mark in directing with a star like Suresh Gopi, should take some serious notes and lesson from his father.
The writing including the story and screenplay by Nithin Renji Panicker was mediocre, the story looks outdated and old, the screenplay was half baked and the characterization lacks depth. The script was having many negative factors and the main was the unfolding events in the film. The character played by Suresh Gopi is like a saviour who goes to an extent without any fear, so the connecting events and circumstances which track the plot is filled with outdated clichés which we use to see in the 90’s action film. The hero-centric movies of 90’s and 2000’s period was having a usual formula of a rich villain who lends money, bad police officers, local rowdies and finally a hero to kill all of them to save their beloved once, this is something that we have witnessed before and this is what Kaaval is all about. After showing the central character, Thampan played by Suresh Gopi appears as a saviour and kills all these above-mentioned villains and the movie ends, all these repeated clichés makes Kaaval uninteresting. From the very beginning, everything was predictable, the various situations that led to the main plot did not have anything new to offer and to introduce the character of Suresh Gopi certain situations were made and all those were overdramatic. The entire plot was predictable with many cliché events and a twist appears at the climax which unfortunately doesn’t give any impact or surprise.
Sadly the way the writer Nithin Renji Panicker had written the character was not convincing, there were missing elements in the writing when it comes to the characters. The main two characters are Thampan played by Suresh Gopi and Antony played by Renji Panicker so in the script these two characters were not having a strong connection. These two characters love and care for each other, they are strong enough and trustworthy partners to overcome any obstacles but how did they end up sharing a brotherhood or what were the real facets which made them share a great bond was missing in the writing. The first half is all about some present situations and many past incidents which connect to the second part so their past lacks depth so the first half was felt incomplete, they immediately come and tell some dialogues pointing out that they are like brothers and care for each other so an artificial feel was flowing, moreover felt the maker was forcing us to believe that they share a great undefined bond. Next in the second part the hero beating the local goons and finally killing the suspense villain to save the family looks absurd and disappointing. Still, all these clichés would have been forgotten if the situation were new, all the circumstances and occurrences that lead the plot to the climax is something we have experienced before in many movies.
The dialogue was great, in some areas the dialogues were having an impact to create a punch. These crucial dialogues had helped the movie to maintain its watching flow, such unexpected dialogues from the mouth of Suresh Gopi was giving an exciting mass feel. The sharp and keen dialogue was the only positive thing I liked in the writing of Nithin Renji Panicker. If the making was held by an experienced director like Joshy or Vyshak the film Kaaval could have been one of the best mass heroic films of recent times.
3: PERFORMANCE OF ACTORS:
The movie comes with the casting of Suresh Gopi as the hero followed by Renji Panicker, Rachel David, Muthumani, Evan Anil, Sadiq, Pauly Valsan, Suresh Krishna, Sreejith Ravi, Shanker Ramakrishnan and many more. The character ‘Thampan’ played by Suresh Gopi is the main plus factor of this film. His screen presence and stunning dialogue delivery make the film enjoyable, for his fans they have the components to get thrilled. After a gap, Suresh Gopi is back to the action avatar, so those who are expecting a terrific performance like we saw in his 90’s period will be slightly disappointed because his character is not a mass heroic person, he comes and gives an impressive performance but a fire and daring attitude was narrowly missing. The dialogue delivery was unbelievable, the way he expressed the crucial dialogues was giving the appeal of a real hero. Suresh Gopi is an actor who can do wonders when it comes to emotional scenes and in this film, he delivers the best. There are few scenes in the film which shows his best acting skills, the emotion of parenthood was authentically in the acting without any flaws. His combination scenes with Ranji Panicker was nice and their combination was favouring to track the film forward. Ranji Panicker did a notable performance, his action scenes were good. The dialogue delivery was fine and the emotional scenes he performed were excellent. His character was having the role of a supportive and loving father and he did it genuinely, his combination with Suresh Gopi was having a relationship of many bonds like brotherhood and trustworthy friendship so all these had worked out well in his acting. Rachel David as Celine delivered an impressive performance, her first film was not that great but on Kaaval she did an honest job. Her emotional sequences were great, her acting according to several situations was conforming to set sentimental scenarios. The dialogue delivery was nice, her character struggles a lot in many difficult situations so the way Rachel handled those occasions was wonderful like an experienced actress. Also, her combination scenes with Suresh Gopi showed the emotion of trust and parenthood so her acting with Suresh Gopi was flawlessly matching to set these above-mentioned emotions. Evan Anil as Alex did a notable job, the role of a younger brother was acted out meaningfully and the sharing of space with Suresh Gopi was good, the innocence seen in his attitude and character was fully favouring till the end. Kichu Tellus as S.I. Benjamin Titus was outstanding, the negative shade on his character was handled perfectly. His dialogue delivery and powerful voice were impressive and the combination scenes with Suresh Gopi was exciting to watch. Sadiq as P.C. Balakrishnan gave an incredibly supportive performance. His character appears at the crucial areas he had given his best. Shanker Ramakrishnan as P.C. K. P. Varghese is another important character in the film. For the first time, I saw Shankar Ramakrishnan doing a role with a negative touch and he was superb at giving his best. The expression of a cunning police officer, the negative villain shade and the way of telling the dialogue through a negative touch was brought out honestly by Shankar Ramakrishnan. Padmaraj Ratheesh as the priest appears and gives a nice and decent performance.
4: MUSIC AND BACKGROUND SCORE:
The musical work for the film was composed by Ranjin Raj. The two songs were amazing and the background store stood at the best prior level. The song “Kaarmekham Moodunnu” sung by K.S Chitra was like a slow poison, the tune starts slow with powerful lyrics, the voice of K.S Chitra felt unique and the lyrics were making the song even better. The visuals were pleasing with the voice of K.S Chitra and lyrics, one can feel the mood of the pain and it’s situation. The other song ‘Ennomal Nodhiyalle’ sung by Madhu Balakrishnan was melodious with the rich voice of the singer and the lyrics by BK. Harinarayanan was showcasing the bond of love and affection. The background score was excellent, it’s one of the main plus factors. The right tunes carried out by Ranjin Raj were matching to set the premise of every scene, the mood and feel for any particular scene were carried steadily. The background score for sentimental scenes was opting for a steady vibe, giving a proper emotional feel so it makes a connection for the viewers to discern the importance of such scenes. When it comes to the action sequences the background score was predominantly on the upper ranked level, an extra impact was given by those tunes. The crucial scenes having punch dialogues were ending with the right background tunes so one can feel a cherished excitement to make some claps. To be more precise, the background score had helped to build a heroic atmosphere, the fans of Suresh Gopi will be thrilled, not just his fans, everyone who does love the heroic one-man show film will love it.
5: TECHNICAL ASPECTS:
The editing by Mansoor Muthutty was the only thing I liked in the technical department while all others were poor which mainly includes the cinematography and actions. The cinematography was only good at capturing the emotions of the central characters. When the cinematography came to the action sequences the movements the cameraman used were miserable. The stunts and action were worse, whoever choreographed it made those stunts and action look weak. The fight looks ordinary, nothing new, as we all know actor like Suresh Gopi is good at performing stunts and fights but the choreographed action for him was not having the right quality and effect to get thrilled, all the stunts and fights look normal. The angles used by the cameraman at the fight sequences were horrible, looks like an average work without offering anything new. The only good thing in the cinematography is the shots used to capture the emotions of actors and the lighting methods used for the indoor scenes and also for the night shots. So due to the average cinematography and poor fight sequences, the movie had suffered to bring an impact. The editing by Mansoor Muthutty looks clear and steady, mismatches weren’t felt anywhere. The cuts and transition were clear and the grading given for the night shots was vividly imposing.
• OVERALL:
So overall Kaaval had given me an average experience because of the poor making and outdated writing by Nithin Renji Panicker. The performance of Suresh Gopi is the only saving factor and if you are expecting to watch a mass movie of Suresh Gopi with thrilling fights the ultimate result will be disappointing so it’s better to watch with fewer expectations, Kaaval is an ok choice for a one-time watch.
• VERDICT: AVERAGE
• RATING: 2.5/5
