Neru

*** Neru Malayalam Movie Review ***

Directed by Jeethu Joseph starring Mohanlal in the lead..

Also starring Siddique , Anaswara Rajan , Jagadeesh.

*** Drishyam combo struck for a six.***

Although it's mentioned that the movie is a courtroom drama, when it's directed by Jeetu Joseph we could expect the suspense and here too he kept that thrilling mood on.

The courtroom sequences which was nearly 80 percent of the movie was well captured. The moment of what's next in a courtroom will happen is well established and that what makes Jeetu Joseph a brilliant craftsman.

Performance wise Anaswara Rajan had given her career best performance.

Siddique's performance was like at one moment a feel of hatred was developed as the life which he gave to the character was phenomenal.

Last but not the least the Complete Actor Mohanlal, needless to say, this man effortlessly performs and wins the heart of the audience. How his potential can be used effectively, when that realisation happens we would have en number of classics from this legend and Jeetu Joseph knows to exploit him well

A little mass moment from this courtroom drama thereby not spoiling it's core was clap worthy..

The topic is social relevant and it's execution was clap worthy

Overall Neru ends the Mollywood industry 2023 at a good note & giving a hope that Mollywood 2024 will be full of blockbusters.

Anyone would agree that its just a standard legal drama. The casting and the setting doesnt seem very expensive or captivating. But the brilliant direction is evident in every detail. Main characters have been casted very well in every way possible. Jeethu joseph does not need any special introduction in such a genre since he has proved his excellence in many of his previous movies. As an average mohanlal enthusiast and a consistent critique of his work, I feel that this must go down as one of his best modern work. He has input an element of his own as well as adhered to the character presented by the director. Movie portrays characteristics of resilience and persistence. A must watch.

At the interval stage now. .. (updated !)

The movie started reasonable, but soon it was evident that this was not going to be anything of the class the director delivered in Drishyam.

Then the trial started and the "classic masala" started pouring thru. With the defense lawyer doing a character assassination in court, something that has been disallowed for a long time now. Only to allow Mohanlal to deliver a punch dialogue shortly after.

Then the accused makes an another attempt at the victim, with goondas and all. Saw this is a masala movie, from the 90s??

Oh boy I am now trembling at what could exist going forward.

So far the homework by director and acting by "actors" are below par.

Post interval things, picked up a bit. From court room drama, it moves to crime investigation.

But there are bits of court room, so unlike what you see in Nna thaan case kodu or even Naradan.

The climax and situation leading to it was so predictable. I was wondering why this wasnt done even before, because it was a crucial question raised early on.

I changed my rating from 4/10 to 5, thanks to a few scenes in the 2nd half.

This is a decent attempt from Jeethu Joseph. Nothing like Drishyam or even Kooman, but engaging and watchable. The thread is good, but the climax was predictable and also very melodramatic. Also, the casting in the movie was off in multiple places. The primary example is Shanti Mayadevi. She simply cannot act and is awkward in a majority of the scenes. I totally understand, that's not her forte, but why give her such a meaty role? The victims mother also couldn't handle the emotional scenes. Also, Jeethu succumbs to the usual tropes of overdoing some scenes - like the incompetence of the first lawyer. The movie is also unnecessarily long and spends insane amounts of time on a CCTV visual. I'm summary, it's a good attempt and an engaging court drama, but not as stellar as it's touted to be.

Even with a predictable storyline Jeethu Joseph's mastery of scriptwriting with Shanthi Mayadevi's knowledge as an advocate makes this engaging and effective. Jeethu Joseph has always been a better writer than a director and there are a lot of instances in the movie that clearly shows that aspect. Some of the smaller characters' acting was not very good, the music was overused a lot and there were a few things that could've been trimmed out. But when it works, the film works great. Even though, it's not something very novel, Mohanlal saying some dialogues did make me clap hard, knowing that I'm sitting in a packed theatre with a lot of families. Anaswara and Siddique were brilliant in their roles and Mohanlal has done a role that is subtle, vulnerable and serious in a very effective way after a long time. Despite the film using easy ways to tell a lot of things, despite the plot being nothing new, it being not new makes more of a case of how it is still so important in every aspect, due to which I was very satisfied by the end of the movie.