Malayalam Cinema Forum - View Single Post - Nari-Racy Actioner .....First Official review out..

Big M · 02-01-2008, 05:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Brazil

By Moviebuzz

After 15 years I.V.Sasi and Mammootty who have done a record 34 films together are back in Balram Vs Taradas. It is vintage Sasi and after a long gap Mammootty is outstanding as Balram the cynical, frustrated, honest cop and Taradas the suave, romantic, cunning smuggler
The film works due to the Sasi formula of the 80’s-cop Vs robbers who are hand-in-glove with corrupt politicians and senior police officers. The scriptwriters T.Damodaran and S.N.Swamy’s kallanum poleesum katha is well-etched out and what makes the film worth watching is the racy manner in which it is presented along with Mammootty’s fire-brand performance.

For the first time in Indian cinema two popular characters Balram (Avanazhi, Inspector Balram) and Taradas (Athirathram) from two different films by the same director-actor combo are coming face to face. The USP of the film is the chemistry between the predator (cop Balram) and prey (smuggler Taradas) which crackles with energy as both are daggers drawn. There are some interesting confrontation scenes though the climax has not been worked out well.

The plot- Now Inspector Balram (Mammootty) has become Deputy Superintendent of Police. During the construction of a College, a huge cache of weapons is unearthed from the land belonging to Hussain Sahib (Riza Bava). The Chief Minister appoints Balram to investigate the case along with Varma (Mukesh). The leads all points to the International smuggler Taradas (Mammootty) who is settled in Dubai. Taradas is the king maker of Kerala politics and has a state minister Mustafa as his right-hand man along with a local MLA Rani (Vani Viswanath) and a bunch of baddies ( Rajmohan Unnithan, ‘Spadikam’ George and others).

However, the ruthless Taradas has only one weakness-Film star Supriya (Katrina Kaif) who is deeply in love with the don. Balram works on this weakness and frames her up and puts her in jail. Taradas loses cool as he says – “Supriya is more precious than anything else in the world”. This leads to the confrontation between the cop and the don who has also the support from the government and a highly corrupt cop George (Siddique). And what follows is a cat and mouse game leading to a tame climax.

Analysis - On the down side, there is basically no story and the climax is a bit of letdown as Taradas is glorified as he has a change of heart. Actually the film is a clash between the two protagonists with different images. It is difficult to say who is better- Balram or Taradas, as Mammootty makes both the characters come alive. Katrina is perfect as Supriya the petite, touch-me-not film actress and has been well presented by Sasi. The comedy track of Jagadish and Kalpana as husband and wife police officers is funny along with Sreenivasan as the editor of a yellow rag.

Technically - Balram Vs Taradas is savvy with good camerawork by Sanjeev Sankar. The film has a rich look with some stunning scenes in Dubai including Taradas driving a Hummer SUV, designer suits and posh villas. Songs tuned by Jassie Gift are peppy especially the “Mathapoove…” song sung and picturised on Afzal and Rimy Tomy. Thanks God Mammooty does not shake a leg this time!

On the whole, Sasi has made a comeback with a racy entertainer. So go ahead and make your matinee.

Verdict: Paisa Vasool

Ee review-um nalla kidilamaayirunnu...ennitenthaayii

Roudram - Mammootty, fully loaded
IndiaGlitz [Friday, February 01, 2008]

What do you look out for in a Renji Panikkar flick? Especially when the hero is donning khaki? A film that entertains more with dialogues than with activity. An action thriller which doesn't showcase much physical action. A protagonist who single-handedly takes on the vicious nexus of politicians, the mafia, high-ranking police officers and street goons.

A hero who is hands-on with media reports and political scandals and delivers punch-lines. A hero who is upright, for whose dedication dear ones pays, sometimes even with their lives, leading to a no-holds-barred hunt for the bad guys.

So you are here in familiar territory, complete with all the Renji Panikkar regulars in ‘Roudram’. Here, the difference offered is definitely Mammootty, who is teaming up with the director in the role of a police officer.

‘Roudram’ offers all the regular fare identified with this genre. However, for die-hard fans of the genre, this two-hour-forty-minutes flick is partially entertaining, if not riveting.

The one reason ‘Roudram’ may not work is that the movie's framework is too similar to the template of Panikkar's previous hit ‘Bharatchandran IPS’. The story is all about Narendran, an honest ACP, who has the guts to take on the corrupt system, fulfilling his father's wish (he was also an officer who died during an operation). Narendran — popularly called Nari — is offered a case to work on, directly from the Chief Minister's office: a case of the murder of Kandamkalatil Jose, a drug dealer. As usual, the protagonist, with the support of SP Thomas and DIG Shihabudeen lays siege against the corrupt elements of the department like ACP Joy and even the IG, who have their dirty interests in the case.

The CM, through opening an investigation of a petty drug dealer, is trying to check the growth of a drug mafia group that may pose a threat to the government. But as Nari goes hunting down the tracks, more and more people associated, gets killed by the evil-doers. And in the final showdown, the CM's office too finds Nari too dangerous to be given such a case which has got its repercussions on the government's fortunes. And in the final showdown, the CM plans to call an end to the investigations. How Nari succeeds to trace out and extinguish the threats forms the rest of the film.

The overall treatment of the movie is pegged to the last decade's potboilers, with a potpourri of various ingredients ranging from drug mafia to corruption in the administration. The direction is also not so commendable as Renji seems to have been more involved with writing bombastic dialogues, than to create any novelty in scene realization or narrative techniques. But the one reason it may work is Mammootty's excellent performance that makes you root for this larger-than-life protagonist. He has really got himself into shape for this one, trying to get into the minute details of the character. The audience is spared the high-voltage non-stop dialogue delivery that is characteristic of Renji Panikker heroes. :Cheers: :Cheers::Cheers::Cheers::Cheers::Cheers::Cheers:Sa ikumar as mafia king Sethu, Rajan P Dev as DIG Shihabudeen and the rest of the cast are in their usual castlines, even airing the same type of dialogues they are expected to do. Newcomer Manju as Nari's wife Prabha, also have not much to do.

The technical departments including the editing by Don max and the cinematography by Sanjeev Sanker gels with the theme. If the pace set in the first half was maintained post-interval too, ‘Roudram’ would have become a really good thriller. The rather tame climax and some slackened post-interval portions hamper the film's overall flow.

The second half downers notwithstanding, ‘Roudram’ is a mostly taut action that will bank heavily on the Mammootty factor to get things going at the box office.

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