After a good debut in 'Second Show', director Sreenath Rajendran and his team is back with a big budjeted 'Koothara'. A movie which tells about three failed young man who is trying to get back into winning tracks, the movie packs in with plenty of fine ideas, some of which works well and some which fails miserably. Altogether, Koothara manages to end up better than its title. The movie has Bharath, Tovino and Sunny Wayne as Kubrin, Tharun and Ram who bond together as a team from their very first day in an Engineering college. Regular back benchers, they are not in the college for study ,but for every other reasons.Kubrin who doesn't even know to recognize between a mechanical lab from a body jim, is trying hard to get into a relation with some girls and is often overly adventurous. But in every situations, his ladies outsmart him earning him a funny name of 'Kalikkaran'. In the meantime Ram , who is from an affluent family falls in love with the girl (Shritha Sivadas) who is running a telephone booth in front of the campus.In comes every rituals of the campus and college elections. But in a moment of rage they are into a big misadventure, that spoils their life and they are dismissed from their college. But the threesome is not going to sit idle as they they are trying to start afresh for another try, this time with the help of mysterious 'Ustad Sali'Mohanlal). What follows form the rest of the movie, which appear as a fantasy in the later half. The movie has a better first half than the second,with many one liners and comedies that works well and appear just as in real life.The scripts by Vini Viswa lal tries for many things at a time which makes it shaky at intervals and there are quite some missing links too. Director Sreenath Rajendran manages to make some scenes work but some good ideas and key moments falls flat due to his poor execution.The opening sequences of the second half lacks life and appear as ritual. And with the arrival of Mohanlal, the movie gathers momentum mainly due to the creation of a mysterious character of Ustad Sali.Some censor cuts and a few 'beeped' dialogues also took the life of certain scenes. The makers also had the guts to place the movie tale as a flashback told by some, whom we never ever surmise of in Mollywood. The climax sequences and its message may appear fine for some, but for most it looks like a sore thumb. The songs in the narratives by Gopi Sundar are really different, with the makers trying to use the uncharacteristic voices of singers like 'Thakara'. The technical sides are good with fine cinematography by Pappu and a good art direction to support him. The graphics and animation of the scenes in the sea were also effective. In the acting front, Bharath scored in most of the scenes. Sunny Wayne also managed to make some work, while Tovino was more real among the three. But the three some lacked a fine screen chemistry. Mohanlal, as usual was good in his extended cameo whose character keeps you guessing till the final reels. The lead ladies who were almost a dozen doesn't have much to do. Baburaj, Bhavana and Renjini were wasted in silly roles. In the final analysis, this 'Koothara' may not be having an extended run in the B O, but it will have takers, particularly among the college going youth.Keep your expectations to limits and you may have a chance to enjoy at least some part of this ill titled film. Rating - 5.75 /10
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