Tag Archives: Prithviraj

Mumbai Police (2013)

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Mumbai Police

I’m a big fan of police procedural dramas and crime films in general, so naturally this 2013 film from Roshan Andrews made it onto my ‘must-watch’ list. And I’m happy to report that the film more than lived up to expectations, with a genuinely surprising ending and a good build-up of suspense along the way. It’s a difficult film to discuss without revealing crucial plot elements, particularly since those are partly what make this film so good, but I will do my best to discuss the film without getting too spoilerish.

The film starts with an accident that causes ACP Antony Moses (Prithviraj) to lose his memory. This is particularly inconvenient since he had just discovered the name of the criminal who had assassinated his friend ACP Aaryan John Jacob (Jayasurya) at an awards ceremony. Despite not remembering who he is, let alone anything of the crime, Police Commissioner Farhan Ashraf (Rahman) asks him to re-investigate the murder, presumably in an attempt to bring back Antony’s memory. Farhan is another friend and the tenuous link to the title of the film is that the three were collectively known as the Mumbai Police due to previous time spent together working in Mumabai. The friends had a reputation for drinking and carousing, particularly Antony who is now known by his nickname Rascal Moses, a label that seems to colour Antony’s reception by colleagues and suspects alike.

Antony has also been instructed not to let anyone know that he has lost his memory and as a result he makes a number of crucial errors in his first days back on the case. Not all of these relate to the investigation, such as his failure to recognise the Superintendent of Police, but he falters in his interactions with the rest of the investigating team who seem to suspect that something isn’t quite right.

Roshan Andrews uses flashbacks to the original investigation to show that pre- and post-accident Antony are two quite different people. Pre-accident Antony wasn’t a particularly nice character as he wasn’t averse to using force and various other dubious tactics to achieve his desired outcome. Post-accident Antony is quieter, more introspective, and seems to be genuinely interested in finding the actual culprit for his friend’s assassination rather than the first available scapegoat. Prithviraj does a great job of highlighting the differences by completely changing the physical mannerisms of the two Antony’s; changing his walk, stance and mannerisms to accentuate the difference. He’s helped by the physical signs of the accident but there is a distinct personality change too which makes Antony a fascinating character.  I kept waiting for a moment where he would remember his former life and revert back to mean and nasty, however post -accident Antony is quieter and more introspective, and seems constantly bemused as he struggles to come to grips with his memory loss. The reactions of Antony’s colleagues, particularly police constable Rakkhee (Aparna Nair), are used to provide more insight into his character both pre- and post-memory loss while Antony’s complete lack of emotion about his best friend’s death post-accident provides a good contrast to his passion and fire before he lost his memory. The greater objectivity should be a boon but instead seems to make Antony even more unsure of how to proceed and his colleagues find his lack of empathy odd. Antony has no recollection of his friendship with Aaryan and only knows that such a relationship existed because he has been told about it by Farhan. In fact, everything Antony currently knows about anything has come from Farhan and this leaves Antony suspicious and unsure of exactly what to believe – particularly when the evidence starts to point to a cover-up. It’s cleverly written to ensure that the audience really doesn’t know who to believe and who is covering for who, which further adds to the suspense and classic whodunnit flavour of the film.

Antony’s self-discovery proceeds in line with the police investigation and piece-by-piece the story is slowly revealed. There is an interesting side plot that involves tensions between the navy and the police force but overall writers Bobby and Sanjay keep to a fairly simple storyline focusing on the friendship between the three men and the investigation into the murder.

Just as the careful detailing of the investigation helps build tension, the sudden reveal of the killer and the reasons behind the murder make it even more surprising, even though re-watching shows that the clues were there all along. But then that’s just as they should be in any good detective story, and the smoke screen raised by the myriad other discoveries of the investigation is cleverly applied. The only thing that didn’t quite ring true for me was Antony’s reaction, which was just too overdone and rather too ingenuous to be convincing. However it’s a small quibble and the rest of the story more than makes up for Antony’s unrealistic response.

Technically the film looks fantastic and the background score by Gopi Sunder is effective in maintaining the desired atmosphere throughout. The performances are all well nuanced, as would be expected from such seasoned actors, but each has been well cast and fits their role perfectly. Mumbai Police is an engaging thriller which works mainly due to the gradual buildup of tension which flourishes due to Antony’s memory loss, and the ever present threat that the other shoe will drop and either the killer will come after Antony, or he will regain his memory and revert back to his old self.  Does either happen? You will need to watch to find out!

The film is entertaining for all the right reasons as Antony struggles to find both his past and the killer against a background of confusion and loss.  The ideal of the final revelation and the ultimate reason behind Aaryan’s death is excellent even if it is a little far-fetched, and the execution could have perhaps been a little better. It’s still a clever and honestly shocking conclusion.   I found Mumbai Police to be a slick, well-packaged and modern thriller that’s definitely well worth a watch for both the storyline and the actors who emphatically bring their roles to life. And you can’t ask for much better than that. 4½ stars.

Kaaviya Thalaivan (2014)

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Kaaviya Thalaivan

Kaaviya Thalaivan sounded promising. A character driven drama set in the world of Tamil theatre in the 1920’s should have been exactly my kind of film, but despite excellent performances from all the  actors and A.R.Rahman’s expressive  soundtrack, the story is frustratingly predictable with little of the expected melodrama. The beautiful costumes and period sets cannot compensate for a very pedestrian telling of the rivalry between two actors and the ups and downs of a theatre company in the years before Indian Independence.  However, at least there are great costumes and stunning sets, and even if the story is disappointingly flat there are plenty of moments of brilliance from the individual actors which do make Kaaviya Thalaivan worth a watch.

The film is semi-narrated by Gomathi Nayagam Pillai (Prithviraj) who is sent as a young boy to train as an actor with Thavathiru Sivadas Swamigal (Nasser). During their travels, Sivadas Swamigal takes in a young orphan beggar called Kaali – later to rejoice in the name of Thalaivankottai Kaliappa Bhagavathar (Siddharth). Gomathi and Kaali become friends in a fairly standard ‘protecting from bullies, blah blah blah heard a million times before’ storyline. Now that familiar track wouldn’t matter if their developing relationship was told with any supporting emotion, but Gomathi runs through the story as if it’s a reading exercise in class and the identity of the protagonists is a matter of great indifference to him. Naturally then, it doesn’t matter to the audience, and Gomathi’s attitude appears more as boastful self-importance rather than genuine compassion for a young orphan.

From children to young men in the theatre company is a matter of a few moments and the two seem to be at least notionally friends at this point. Their different personalities are defined by a moment in the wings as they watch the hero Bhairavan (Ponvannan). Gomathi voices his desire to be just like Bhairavan while Kaali recognises the flaw’s in both the performance and the man, and instead aspires to be like their guru – Sivadas Swamigal.  It’s not unexpected then when Sivadas Swamigal chooses Kaali to be the hero for the company’s next production, or that this sews the seeds of resentment in Gomathi for his ‘humiliation’ which is really all in his own mind.

Gomathi  seems to take it as inevitable that he should resent Kaali for his success, without having any better reason to do so  than his own sense of self-importance. That could have worked as motivation if it had been developed in any way, but instead the rivalry is treated as a given and no further explanation is necessary. While Gomathi is silently angry, Kaali is blithely oblivious and embarks on a ridiculously straightforward romance with Rangamma (Anaika Soti), the local lord’s daughter. Kaali has little difficulty accessing Rangamma’s rooms, which should realistically been a little more heavily guarded, and no-one other than Gomathi seems to suspect anything, despite the heavy-handed flirting that goes on between the two during stage performances.  At least finally there is some passion and vitality to the characters, although not so much between Kaali and Rangamma but rather in an excellent scene where Sivadas Swamigal confronts Kaali about his love affair. Both Nasser and Siddharth are over-emotional and sufficiently melodramatic to suit the story at this point, while Prithviraj gets a chance to be nastily spiteful. However it’s a small oasis of theatricality, and the story quickly reverts back to a more plodding pace once Rangamma is out of the picture. That’s actually a shame since Anaika Soti does well with the limited role and looks beautiful in the songs. I would have liked to see more of her, but Kaali needs to have a reason for his life to turn pear-shaped and losing Rangamma works relatively well.

The final character in the drama is Ganakokilam Vadivambal, aka Vadivu (Vedika), a dancer and singer who joins the company and replaces the more traditional male actors in the female roles. Vadivu is in love with Kaali, but he only has eyes for Rangamma, while Gomathi pines in the wings for Vadivu who barely seems to notice him. It’s a situation that should be full of jealousy and passion but is instead treated clinically without any of the emotional drama that would have made the characters more effective. Again there is no justification for Vadivu’s ever more extreme devotion to Kaali, and although there is a little more substance behind Gomathi unrequited love, it doesn’t seem realistically likely to survive in the face of Vadivu’s determined rejection. However both Vedika and Prithviraj are good enough actors to generate some plausibility in their relationship and the tension between the two does become somewhat more palpable as the story develops. Without Prithviraj this really wouldn’t have had anything like the same impact, but he really does do a good job with very limited dialogue and little opportunity to demonstrate exactly why he feels the way he does.

Vasanthabalan also adds in a Nationalist thread to the plot which seems to be an unnecessary complication when more detailed development of the story and more in-depth characterisations of the three protagonists would have worked just as well, if not better. Once Kaali becomes a Nationalist, that too in a matter of moments while in prison, his fate is sealed and the ending is as predictable as expected. As Kaali, Siddharth comes away looking the best of the cast, partly because his character has more scope and inherent drama, but mainly because he really does an excellent job with the role. His performance is flawless and particularly in his scenes with Nasser there is a definite sense of the arrogance and self-confidence that underlies Kaali. Siddharth also nails the hurt and despair when Kaali is let alone in the world and his scenes with Nasser are superb. More of these and less of the bland romance would have been much better. Prithviraj and Vedika do as best as they can  within their limited roles and there are times in the second half where both get more of an opportunity to show more depth, but they are hampered by a lack of motivation for their characters actions which makes them too one-dimensional to be truly effective.

It’s perplexing that a film set in and all about theatre could end up so lifeless and devoid of melodrama, but that is exactly the problem with Kaaviya Thalaivan. I really wanted to like this film as I appreciate the attempt by Vasanthabalan to tackle something different,  but I just couldn’t engage with the characters and was completely frustrated by the lack of any reasonable justification for their actions. I know that’s my usual rant but it is so very noticeable here in a film where the motivation really should be key to developing the drama. However, the film looks amazing, Siddharth is fantastic and the music and songs are excellent. It’s a visual feast even if there is no substance to the spectacle and for that alone the film deserves to be seen and at least once.

Memories (2013)

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Memories

Before the release of his blockbuster Drishyam in 2013, director Jeethu Joseph had a hit with this thriller/crime drama starring Prithviraj as a cop on the trail of a serial killer. Despite the tag of crime thriller, Memories is more than just a simple tale of a murder investigation with the requisite suspects, dead ends and clues that gradually lead to the killer. Although all of that is still there, the film focuses more on the character of the lead investigating officer and his day to day struggles to deal with his difficult past. It’s a good attempt to deliver a more Hollywood-style drama but in the final scenes the film is let down by a rather unbelievable protagonist and a few plot holes that develop as a result. It’s still well worth a watch though for a number of excellent performances, most notably from Prithviraj, and an effective build-up of suspense in the first half of the film.

Sam Alex (Prithviraj) was a successful police officer before the fall-out from a raid on a criminal gang impacted his own family life. As a result, Sam continually relives the moments where he lost his wife Teena (Meghana Raj) and young daughter to an escaped member of the gang, and through flashbacks, the film gradually builds a picture of his happy past.  There is only one song in the film which is used to show a series of montages of Sam’s previously happy life. Yes, it’s a little over the top and maudlin, but it is a lovely song and since it’s the only part of the film where Sam gets to smile, it’s worth a look.

To deal with his memories, Sam drowns his sorrows in the demon drink, and although he hasn’t been thrown off the force, he is physically and mentally unable to continue with his police work. Luckily for Sam, he lives with his mother Marykutty (Vanitha Krishnachandran) in a rather swish house and seems able to spend all day drinking at the local watering hole without any obvious financial problems. In addition, his police chief, IG Menon (Vigayaraghavan) looks on him as a kind of ‘godson’ and is prepared to offer him every possible opportunity to get his life back on track. However, Sam prefers to wallow in his own misery, and it takes a direct plea from his mother (ah – the power of an Indian ma!) to finally get him involved in the murder investigation.

The set-up for the mystery is solidly executed and, up until near the end when the killer is revealed, each step in the investigation is well plotted with appropriately puzzling twists.  Initially a man disappears from a car park after a shopping expedition with his wife, and his tortured body is found tied to a tree a few days later.  A second grisly discovery sees SP Vinod Krishna (Suresh Krishna) trying to find a serial killer in all the wrong places and it’s at that point IG Menon decides that Sam could be just what the investigation needs. Certainly he couldn’t manage to do a worse job than the hapless SP Vinod! Needless to say SP Vinod is not best pleased to have his inquiry lumbered with a has-been who spends all day drinking. Literally.

To add to their woes, a local journalist is giving the police a hard time about the murders, and the body count keeps getting higher while the list of possible suspects gets smaller. The build-up of suspense keeps the momentum of the story going and for most of the film the investigation is relatively realistic – at least as far as any fictionalised crime drama ever manages to be.   The problem comes later in the film where the final motivation of the killer doesn’t reach the same level of plausibility, and the climax ends up a little too predictable and overly melodramatic. However, unlike similar Hollywood stories, there is admirably less focus on the blood and gore, and more attention paid to the psychology of the killer even if he’s still just a little too superficial in the end.

Prithviraj is excellent in the role of the alcoholic cop who just wants to be left alone with his memories. I really like the characterisation and the way that Sam only takes part in the police investigation on his own terms. Going back to the job he blamed for the death of his family is just one of the many issues dealt with, and the ripple effect of Sam’s alcoholism and the impact on his brother and mother is a constant undercurrent to his work. I also like that getting back into a police investigation isn’t a quick fix for Sam’s issues and he keeps drinking throughout the investigation, while any rehabilitation from alcoholism is shown as a long and difficult struggle. The focus on his flaws, the difficulties he has in dealing with the families of the murder victims and his co-workers are all cleverly used to draw his character in more detail.  The role is absolutely central to the film and Prithviraj carries it off with ease while ensuring plenty of empathy for his character, even though he’s really not particularly likeable and remains relatively self-centred throughout.

The support cast are all quietly capable in their roles.  Rahul Madhav is effective as Sam’s semi-estranged brother, and Vijayaraghavan, Suresh Krishna and the rest of the police officers provide strong support as the investigation unfolds. Mia George appears as an investigative journalist who initially gives Sam a hard time about his drinking habits and berates SP Vinod for his ineffectiveness, but she effectively disappears from the story once she becomes more supportive. I’m not convinced that her role was strictly necessary and the plot would have been sharper without her inclusion.

A few things made me smile, Oddly the chests of the murder victims are pixilated during the autopsy scenes, despite the fact that this contains an important clue. It is laid out in detail later, but even a brief view would have helped to understand why Sam was so fixated on a number of pieces of paper and photographs. I’m really not sure if this censorship was due to modesty or the gore factor, but it was bizarre.  The subtitles are also rather interesting, including the idea that the killer tried to procrastinate the murder, although I think what they really meant to say was delay the death. Procrastination sounds much less terminal! And there is good use of a map – always a handy tool for murder investigations and I do appreciate good use of a prop.

While there is nothing ground-breaking about Memories, it is a good story with all the requisite elements for a crime thriller. The murders and their subsequent investigation do tend towards formulaic but that’s not necessarily a bad thing, and everything is well pieced together to make a mostly convincing story. The psychology behind the main character is more interesting and it is this detail that moves the film from average to noteworthy, particularly when that main character is played by Prithviraj. Solidly entertaining and one of the better films from last year, Memories is definitely well worth a watch and a good addition to the crime genre. 3½ stars