Movie Review
Big B - Rocks with a different treatment
IndiaGlitz [Monday, April 16, 2007]
Amal Neerad seems to be saying with his new thriller Big B that there are more ways of telling an action story, than those you already witnessed. Despite its simplistic storyline, it manages to stir your soul, and transport you to something that you have never experienced in Malluwood.
Making a must see for a quality conscious, refined film buffs and also the front liners at the same time, the film establish the director as one of the brilliant and techno savvy story teller of our times. Though the film maintains its racy pace only on the second half, it succeeds in retaining the audience's interest till the end. Unlike most Mallu action movies, Big B proves to be a well thought-out product, which does its job of providing entertainment to perfection.
The film opens with the brutal murder of Mary teacher, a social activist (brilliantly lived by former Miss India Nafisa Ali) who also runs an orphanage and is into clearing up of every social problems of Fort Kochi area.
And for her funeral, arrives the four rough and tough orphans whom she had adopted as her children with the family name Kurishingal. And the brothers are Eddie ( Manoj.K Jayan), who runs a local fast food point for tourists , Murugan (Bala)a film stunt director, Bijoy, the youngest who is a student in coimbatore (Sumit Naval) and the eldest Big brother Bilal John Kurishingal, who works as the bodyguard of the richest showman and dons in Mumbai.
The brothers who have a great bonding and love for their mother are coming together after years, even though their mother always loved to be a part of their reunion, in her lifetime.
The film travels through the viewpoint of George (Vijayraghavan) a corrupt police officer who is detailing the associated incidents to his chief, the ACP Balaji Shakthivel (Pasupati) who is an upright cop, put in charge of investigations. He tries his level best but couldn't fetch any evidence to prove anything related.
Meanwhile Bilal, with able support from his brothers tries to take up the case at their levels and thereby, to take revenge on their foster mother's killers. They soon find out that the murder was one of the meticulously planned operations, aimed to check the teacher's intrusions into unlawful exporting of children from Kochi. As the Mayor (Ramesh Varma) and his henchman, an underworld don called Saiyuppu Tony (Sherveer Vakil) are involved, lawlessness is the last word to seek justice and how they go for it forms the rest of the story.
The film has all the ingredients to make it the best of the genre in Malayalam with adrenaline-pumping action scenes, brilliantly choreographed by Anal Arasu, designer look, realistic shoot-outs, car chases, and music video style songs. Taking inspirations from the Hollywood film Four Brothers, the film match the original in mood and tones.
The high point of the film is Mammootty's towering presence, which gives the essential power to the invincible hero. He, as deadly bodyguard Bilal speaks in his own ways, in powerful small dialogues, and engages us in an altogether new body language. This is definitely another best form the actor who looks up for taking the next challenge, every other performance in Big B is mesmerizing. The imported villain Sherveer Vakil also kills us with his innocent but menacing looks and action. Nafisa Ali as the mother of the four brothers looks stunning and emotes with flourish. She with her trade mark big smile is most graceful element in the film which adds to its coherence.
The film stands out in all its technical departments. Sameer Thahir, the debutante cinematographer must feel proud to get into the fray with such a brilliant work. Vivek Harsha with his breezy editing and Gopi Sunder with memorable BG tracks, elevate the flick to a level of a Bollywood thriller. With Stylish and techno savvy songs and visualizations, the film stands as the finest action thrillers made till date in Malluwood.
And for Amal Neerad, it is the result of his schooling from Ram Gopal Varma factory, which has made the attempt a laudable effort. He has taken care to bring even in the midst of this aggression, to highlight the pain and passion felt by the central characters.
And not once, does the film meander into subplots or take you away from the thin core lines. And in the box office, the film will definitely target a niche audience who looks out for quality entertainment, and will win unprecedented critical acclaim. And to put it bluntly, the film is the Vishu winner in terms of the best in creative expressions, stunning visual mileage and for its treatment.