Director Harikumar fills a promising palette with clichés and a representation that is hardly true to life. When it comes to biopics, there needed to have been a realistic portrayal. The movie starts with the present, featuring the real life parents of Clint reminiscencing about their dear departed son, before shifting to the reel. Talking his heart and eyes out, Alok is simply endearing as little Clint with the movie mainly focusing on the last year of Clint’s life. There sure are colours and hues that fill the movie, but the depiction of the characters and the narration of the story lack naturalness and genuinity that holds back the impact of the prodigy.
There is nature, deities and things around Clint that inspires him to take the brush. The movie spans his interests and the workings of his mind that belies his age and physical illness. The pictures born from his deft strokes invite other artistes and journalists to sit up and take notice. Then there are things that give him pleasure and also fear. His time spent with his father and mother are all beautifully brought out. The things that belittle him, like the ones featuring Salim Kumar and the barber is highly caricatured and fails to give a realistic pictures. One of the main flaws of the movie is that the characters are not etched with precision and sharpness. Thus we have clichéd emotional tones and caricatured characterization.
The movie does show justice to the prodigy who passed on at the tender age of seven leaving behind his signature. However Hariharan needed to have shown more sensitivity in depicting true to life events. Some of those high strung dialogues are simply absurd and so is the movie’s blandness in characterization. Master Alok is impressive as Clint. His dialogue delivery and charm is translated on screen very well. It is no fete to let a child shoulder the responsibility of the entire movie and Alok does well to hold the viewers in thrall.
In fact wherever the movie slips from Clint’s centrality, it fails to hold up. Then there is Rima as Clint’s mother. The emotional roller coast is brought out stunningly by the actor. Unni Mukundan is also fine in his role as Clint’s father. The father- son relationship is a pleasure to watch. Other actors including KPAC Lalitha, Vinay Fortt, Renji Panikar all shine in their roles.
Illayaraja is a maverick and the music kind of haunts you. From canvas to reel, music makes the transition surreal. However the frames had more scope to be impressive. The potential of the greenery amidst which Clint lives is not fully utilized, maybe expect in the song. Editing is passable. Hariharan’s oeuvre is absent in this flick and the expectations of a potential entertainer with emotional appeal has not been handled with finesse. Dialogues are oft times too dramatic. Also there is nothing new that the director has been able to convey. This lack of depth in giving the character a whiff of fresh breath is the movie’s undoing.
Though the movie reeks of unused potential, the life of Clint leaves a sweetness in the aftermath. Watch out for Alok and catch a biopic which has pleasant and heart touching moments.
