The narrative mode of a movie inside a movie, is the curious factor of ‘Honey Bee 2.5’. Romance can unfurl anywhere and the creation of two movies each from different perspectives is quite refreshing, though not entirely new. While on one hand, we have an engaging tale of struggle and love building up, on the other we have a superficial and clichéd narrative. ‘Honey Bee 2.5’ is all of these and it is a safe one time watch with lead ‘Honeybee’ actors as themselves and the movie’s leads Askar Ali and LIjomol fitting themselves into a halfway there movie (pun intended).
‘Honey Bee 2.5’ unrolls itself on the sets of ‘Honey Bee’, the original franchise. We have a Adayar film institute graduate, Vishnu (Askar Ali), who has a promising start, with great offers coming his way and a great future ahead of him to be a leading hero in the film industry. But things soon fizzle out as none of these movies goes on floor. This is how he lands on the sets of ‘Honey Bee 2’ hoping to find some role in it. What ensues are days of struggle doing all the donkey work and nothing actually coming off it. But he does hit it off with the touch up girl on the sets, played by Lijomol. The film is their story.
The movie is a passably engaging tale and it sure is an eye opener about the happenings on any given movie set, de-glamorizing every bit of the showbiz. Asif Ali, Bhavana and others appearing as themselves is a pleasure to watch. It may not have a novel premise or a lovey-doevy love story. But one can watch it as a passable entertainer. In spite of some of those unrealistic and over the top love declarations, the feel is good enough. The two lead couples do have a comfortable chemistry between them, which makes their combination acceptable.
This is Askar Ali’s first movie and he has amble scope to improve himself in subsequent movies. Lijomol is a pleasure to watch and she consistently keeps up her act. This is her third movie and here too she doesn’t disappoint. The comedy aspects even if taken out of the movie wouldn’t create a ripple; meaning they don’t add anything to the movie. There are flaws in the script of being predictable and lacking much depth.
Direction is by Shyju Anthikad and is along conventional lines. He has also not been able to get the best out of his actors. The script is only just about okay, not slipping headlong into meaninglessness. Camera is good and those behind the sets appear realistic. The in between sequences add interest to the main tale. Editing and songs are good enough.
‘Honey Bee 2.5’ is an “in-between” movie is all sense and is a one-time watch. It has its share of fun moments though in a predictable kind of way.
