Coming from the makers of 'Traffic', 'Chappa Kurish' is a rare experiment in Mollywood, that is more treated in an offbeat and unusual manner. With a right, contemporary story, that is undeniably merited to be told as its definite highlight, 'Chappa Kurish' is one film that tries to make the characters appear very life-like, very real and in the process makes a narrative that may not be engrossed by an avid moviegoer.
The debut directorial offering from the cinematographer of 'Big B', Samir Thahir, the movie is basically a cat and mouse game between two people living in extremes in the same city, one who is in the run for his name and fortunes and the other who has all the clues about latter in the gadget that is temporarily with him. Fahad Fazil is Arjun, a charming, plotting business man who is trying to get his dream projects done with the help of his subordinates including Sonia(Ramya Nambeeshan). Engaged to bubbly Ann(Roma), he moves in swanky cars with the comfort of colloquial English and new age gadgets and is also rearing a unorthodox surreptitious relation with Sonia, which prepares her to do all the difficult things for him. Meanwhile, Vineeth Sreenivasan is Ansari, a submissive sales boy at the Supermarket, trying hard to find two ends meet with his limited salary. He is always in silent battle with the world outside including his manager who always humiliates him. Rather than fighting them out in the open, Ansari takes pleasure in the silence of his loneliness and also in the company of Abidha, his co - worker at the supermarket. Both these lead men have their own principles and their outlook towards life which are never parallel. How those principles throw a spanner in their lives forms the crux of the story.
The movie has a simple grim storyline credited to the director, on which weaving a movie that lasts two hours is indeed difficult. R Unni and Samir Thahir has just tried to make things somewhat engaging with interesting dialogues and right placements of sub characters. But the problem with the film, if any, lies in its post-interval portions; when you wait for the twists and turns in the story to captivate you, the goings-on get so unsurprising that the impact created at the start of the film disappears into thin air.
A welcome addition to the multiplex films started recently with movies like 'Cocktail, Traffic and 'Salt N Pepper', the movie is constructed as a dark thriller whose execution in the later half become tiresome after a point, leaving one wanting for more. The film takes liberal inspirations from international films like Handphone, wedding dress rehearsal, caricature parents and changing lanes to explicit shades of regional talkies like thiruttu payale and kidnap to stretch it to 130 minutes. The worry of Ansary to feel humane and important at some point of his life and the frustration of Arjun who knows himself to be heading for the greatest trap partly because of his own actions, are narrated under sensible rationale. The movie is told unhurriedly and the slow pace dilutes the impact further for the viewers of regular potboilers.But the film is chick and shot extremely well and technically speaking, a notch above most with top class cinematography by debutante Jomon T john, capturing Kochi in its real shades.
In the acting front Fahad fazil fits the role to a 'T' and makes his father proud with the weightiest role in his career. He easily gets into the skin of the character and forces out the natural, believable breakdown of his character who likes people to dance around his finger tips, making it one of the best performances seen in recent times. Vineeth is ok with Ansari's anguish, helplessness and innocence most of the times and even without many dialogues gives the widest range of emotions. Nivedhitha, the actor who plays Abidha is sure to go heights with her natural emoting capabilities while Ramya, after quite some time, has a better role that may bring her back to commercial limelight and unparallelled heights. Another debutante, Rex Vijayan has created pretty good BGM, that gell well with the movie. He also offers some different appealing tunes for the altogether different movie whose picturization of tracks are also adequate, though the last one seems stretched.
'Chaapa kurishu' defies cliches by not making the rich guy look like a complete villain and the poor guy an innocent hero. Attempting the grey areas that are less explored in Malayalam industry, Samir's movie has characters that evoke our sympathy and anger at the same time. Moreover, the first ever lip lock scenes in commercial Mollywood, where our lead filmmakers usually resort to dissolve to wall posters and waterlilies is, also a stunner with the young crew and the filmmaker showing their boldness and conviction. And believe us, the most realistic, bitter and gory action sequences ever to have made in Mollywood (choreographed by Rajasekhar), is also in store for you towards the climax of 'Chappakurish'.
At the box-office, 'Chappa Kurish', with support from its intense promotions may fare as an average grosser. The generous dose of skin show sequence, violent action and the need for a more tighter scripts will tell on its business and restrict its appeal further to limited audiences. A must see for all those who like experiments and extremes in Mollywood.
Rating: 5/10
