Bhaskar Oru Rascal - A remake that works in parts
Mammootty's 'Bhaskar the Rascal' though flawed rode the way to success piggy banking on its hero's charismatic screen presence. Director Siddique himself has helmed this Tamil remake and it remains to be seen how the audience would react to it.
Bhaskar (Arvind Swamy) is a well to do businessman who is a sort of a rowdy who prefers dealing in blows rather than talk. He is a widower living with his father (Nasser) and school going son Akash (Master Raghavan). Akash's classmate is Shivani (Baby Nainikka) who takes a liking towards Bhaskar's brash way while the boy bonds well with her mother Vinitha (Amala Paul). Vinitha though has some bad experiences with Bhaskar and cannot tolerate him. As time goes by the children decide the best way for both of them to be happy is to get their parents to marry and hatch plans to get them to like each other. When everything seems to fall in place Vinitha's husband thought to be dead resurfaces much to the shock of everyone and what happens next forms the crux of the screenplay.
Arvind Swamy as Bhaskar has given an all round good performance be it his bonding with his own dad and his son. In the romance scenes with Amala Paul he exhibits the awkwardness a brash man would feel convincingly. He also scores In the very little comedy scenes he gets and the rope enabled stunts. Amala Paul looks pretty and has carried the slightly mature role well and also does not disappoint her fans in the glam department in the song sequences. Robo Shankar and Soori try their best to tickle the funny bones but only pull off the marriage band scene. Nasser has once again played a familiar role with ease while Master Raghavan deserves kudos for doing a flawless job. Poor Baby Nainikka who looks very pretty has to contend with dialogues that does not suit her age and her performance suffers big time. Aftab Shivdasani shines in the first fight but is let down with no help from his characterization or the screenplay.
The first half is interesting and also has some fun sequences and the audience sit up for a family drama with twists.
On the downside the entire second half meanders without direction and falls flat in an unimaginative climax.
Amresh Ganesh's songs and background score are passable while Vijay Ulaganath's cinematography is a plus. Editor Gowri Shankar could have done better to salvage the sagging second half. Director Siddique carries with him the reputation of giving sensible subjects laden with humor in his films like 'Friends' and 'Kavalan'. In 'Bhaskar Oru Rascal' sadly he has not gone for any nativity changes and with no humor to bank on he has only managed a remake that works only in parts.
Verdict : Go for it for the performances of Arvind Swamy, Amala Paul and Master Raghavan.
