Double Barrel

An extra ordinary effort taken film in Malayalam industry, New styles and linguistics coming in, and should say it's one of the first films in Malayalam industry to bring in a thematic absurdness of life through such intensified scenes. Hats off to the whole team!

Double Barrel aka Iratta Kuzhal is a comedy movie from the director Lijo Pellissery,the film is packed with excellent visual experience and certainly a masterpiece by the film maker, action and black comedy combination is a new experience for south Indian viewers such an experience is seen only in Hollywood. Its similar to Django Unchained in some sense but different in other.

Directed by Lijo Jose Pellissery

Produced by Prithviraj, Santhosh Sivan, Arya, Shaji Nadesan

Written by Lijo Jose Pellissery

Starring Prithviraj, Arya, Indrajith, Asif Ali, Sunny Wayne, Swathi Reddy, Isha Sharvani, Pearle Maaney

Music by Prashant Pillai

Cinematography Abhinandan Ramanujan

Production Company: August Cinema

Distributed by August Cinema, E4Events & Nanma International (Asia Pacific)

Release dates: August 28, 2015

Language Malayalam

Budget US$2.4 million .The cast of the movie have ultra modern look and its a retro styled movie like the "DOUBLE BARREL GUN" it self.

This was one crash and burn like none other. As an ardent admirer of the Lijo Jose Pellisery school of film making and an even bigger admirer of Prithviraj (and to a lesser extent, his brother too), this was one flick I was betting the year on. Lijo's first movie was an under-appreciated little gem 'Nayakan' with Indrajith in a role which should have catapulted him to the big time, but didn't. Sadly, his second movie, and probably his best, City of God, was commercially noticed even less, but was one of my favorites of that year. But considering the huge supporting cast of big names and the Tarantino-sque trailer for this one, plus the fact that Lijo had finally cracked the commercial approval code with 'Amen', this had to be a surefire winner right?

Nothing could be further from the truth. Speaking as someone who loves experimental Malayalam cinema, I have to say I found nothing really to recommend here. The first sequence, in fact, was quite promising – with the arguing couple, the silent gunman and the explosive culmination of it in a black comedy of errors. But from then on in, I could only watch with growing disbelief as the movie descended into farce of unbelievable proportions. The silent gunman, played by Sunny Wayne, was probably the best part of the movie, and not nearly enough time was devoted to this character. A farcical tale on the pursuit of two diamonds, Laila and Majnu, which together are valuable beyond your wildest dreams but worthless individually, a whole cast of characters come together (or blow apart) in its chase. Leading the pack are the duo of brothers (Prithvi and Indrajith), small time crooks trying to break the big time. Chemban Vinod Jose and Arya play another track of small time hooligans trying to bury a couple of bodies their mobster boss killed. Speaking of which, how in the world is Arya such a huge star in the neighboring state? His lack of emotive skills and even poorer dialog delivery shows exactly why he probably could not make any in roads into the currently competitive Malayalam industry.

The ingredients were all there for a wild and quirky romp in a Mallu stoner attempt at Tarantino. Unfortunately, the biggest problem here is that the situations and dialogs are just not funny. What was meant to be rib tickling funny fell flat most of the time. Most of the story lines (apart from the silent assassin one) did not connect and it was way too long, clocking at a mammoth 2 hours 40 minutes.

There is almost nothing redeeming in this misadventure – except maybe for the fact that every director is allowed a misfire, and considering this is Lijo's first, he will hopefully bounce back with a bang.

Lijo Jose Pellisery's "Double Barrel" A.K.A " Eratta Kuzhal which was under production since early 2014 was undoubtedly the most anticipated Mollywood movie of 2015 from my side due to a wide range of reasons,a few being its whooping budget of around 16 crores,the sound technical crew headed by Lijo and of course the presence of an ensemble star-cast including my favourite actor Prithviraj Sukumaran alongside Indrajith,Arya and Asif Ali.

A gangster spoof at the first place,Double Barrel is beyond doubt a brave attempt from Lijo Jose Pellisery who has comeout with something different every time he wielded the megaphone.Even though there's still big room for improvement as far as a smooth experience is concerned,Double Barrel,which gives the feeling of reading a comic book will not letdown at least a small section of the movie buffs who love experimental flicks.

For a close viewer who loves films from the directors of the likes of Quentin Tarantino and Guy Ritchie,Double Barrel is sure to find a place in the heart with its technical integrity and unorthodox treatment devoid of clichéd elements that we usually come across in films.Visuals by Abhinandan Ramanujan making use of Red Dragon Camera deserves a special mention for the perfection in each frame.Action choreography and visual effects utilized during the shootout sequences too were really impressive but editing by Sathyaraj was pretty mediocre resulting in lack of continuity in between the narration.Music by Prashant Pillai was suiting the narration,but none of the songs can qualify for repeated hearing.The background score by himself was impressive.

The slow pace of the narration and inherent lag along with quiet a few numbers that backfired will surely evoke negative response from a major section of the audience and as such a box office success seems laborious for the makers,which was expected once the promos were out.The second half in particular is a roller coaster ride with impressive and sombre sequences tallying with each other resulting in a mixed response once the end credits start to roll on screen.Maybe too much experimentation with the narration keeps the movie far from the reach of the normal mass audience who are looking to chillout for sometime this festival season.

Coming to the performances,Prithviraj Sukumaran and Indrajith pulled off the humorous characters Pancho and Vinci convincingly,evoking laughs with their hilarious antics.The foreign actor who portrayed the role of Blacky was refreshing and received claps for his Malayalam version dialogues.Vijay Babu was impressive as Billy.Arya,Sunny Wayne and Chemban Viniod were adequate.Asif Ali had very little screen presence,but did his part well.Among others Rachana Narayanankutty,Sabumon Abdusamad,Pearle Maaney,Sajid Yahiya etc did their job well.

Overall,Double Barrel is a bold experiment that's targeted at a niche audience who love avant-garde film making.Nothing more nothing less!! Verdict::August Cinemas's latest endeavour Double Barrel is a rarity in an Industry like Mollywood where experiments come in less number.The 158 long gangster spoof is a roller-coaster ride with its fare share of ups and downs,so my advice is to try it at your own risk if you have taste for experimental movies.

Story about two precious pair of stones laila and majnu and a Don trying to sell it.If this was a Hollywood film it will definitely won awards.Indian audiences as well as even critics didn't had the knowledge what Lijo tried to tell.Move away your logic and enjoy this masterpiece.Cinematography is excellent and bgm is rave.If you want to enjoy in its peak then roll an joint and watch.