After the much applauded debut film ‘Melvilasam’, director Madhav Ramadasan aptly makes the follow through with the finely done ‘Apothikkiri’. With a very strong social message about the ethical elements of clinical drug tests and victimisation of patients, the movie excels with its nice handling of the theme and the poignant performances from the cast.
The movie is set on the backdrop of the multispecialty ‘Apothikkiri’ hospitals,run by a few affluent rich men and a leading physician, only with the intent of making money through every possible means. The movie opens with the sequences of Dr. Vijay Nambiar(Suresh Gopi) , a neurologist,brought to the hospital unconscious after he met with a grave road accident. The situation of the doctor remains critical though the management tries by every means to stabilise him with mechanical and medical support. The movie follows an interesting theme of internal fights that the doctor goes through as he is left between the narrow lanes of life and death. Incomes the patients who succumbed to death following the drug abuse, while a few including Zubin(Jayasuriya) who is communicating with the unconscious doctor near his ICU bed, still vouch for the goodness of heart of the physician.
The major highlight of the movie is the power with which it has handles a theme quite rarely addressed in current day Mollywood. The movie packed with exquisitely done sequences with intense emotions has a director with conviction at it’s helm who manages most of its making wisely and effectively. The audience are made to feel for the helpless victims who are forced to undergo clinical testings. SureshGopi is back with a demanding role that he does with finesse. A character that demands the maturity and intensity of the actor like him, Dr Vijay is safe in his hands. But it is Jaysurya who steals the best from him with his character of an ordinary rubber tapping worker, ailing with the pains of trigeminal neuralgia, a nerve problem affecting the facial nerves. He looks pale and adept for the role and is extremely believable in every scenes. Another sure contender for this year best actor awards, the character works best for the movie holding it firmly without any causalities. He is ably supported by Indrans in another career best role as Zubin’s father and Asif Ali also comes with a powerful performance. Other actors in the fray including Abirami, Meera Nandan, Raghavan and Thampy Antony does well in their roles.
The cinematography by Hari Nair is another highpoint of the film, though the editing by Sreenivas could have been a little more strict.The BG scores and art direction are effective. The movie is but devoid of any commercial masala fares and don’t expect this to be that usual stuff. It moves at a below ordinary pace completing its screen time of 151 minutes. The dubbing for some lesser known female artists are not effective, sometimes arousing a feel of clichéd melodrama .
But with plenty of creative stuff uncovered, this multiple layered film has plenty of experimental stuff that is sure to impress the lovers of more serious films. A definite watch for connoisseurs of contentful cinema. Best recommended for lovers of emotional movies with a message.
Rating-6.75/10
