Aadhi

Jeethu Joseph. The name is synonymous with thriller movies. Be it Drishyam or Memories or even his first film, Detective, all were highly appreciated. But it was a dissapointment when it came to the 2016 film, Oozham. Now he has come with a new film Aadhi. Expectations were many for this film. Firstly, it is directed by Jeethu joseph. Second, It is the debut of Pranav Mohanlal. Third, the stunts (more on that later). Now, the plot: Adhithya Mohan, an aspiring musician, who dreams it of making it big, gets a chance to do a show in Bangalore. An incident there makes him to run for his life. The first half of Aadhi goes off in a slow mode setting up the story. The notable sequence is the action in the market place and the stunts performed (Parkour) is very impressive. But it's the second half that has it's share of thrills which leads to the climax with an unpredictable twist. The songs were good even though the two songs in the second half could have been avoided. The pick of the songs are 'Mizhiyoram(Unplugged Version)' and 'Gypsy woman.' Jeethu Joseph is an expert when he handles thrillers. This can be seen in the second half of the film. Editing (Ayoob Khan) was done neatly but could have trimmed some portions in first half. Cinematography (Satheesh Kurup) was good. Stunts, as I said before, was awesome. Have'nt seen any actor doing Parkour in any Malayalam film and Pranav needs to be applauded for performing the stunts himself. Now to the performances. Pranav Mohanlal as Aadhi is natural. He is outstanding while doing the action as well as in emotional scenes. Sharafudeen was good. Anusree too did a good job. Sideeq has a nice role. Lena was average. Siju Wilson in a negative role did well. Jagapathi Babu's role could have been better thought of. Mohanlal in a cameo was good. All in all, Aadhi can be watched for it's leading man and for the stunts. You will be entertained. My rating - 3.5/5

Jeethu Joseph's latest feature Aadhi looks like a revised version of his 2016 revenge drama Oozham. The only difference is that the protagonist here is a parkour enthusiast and not an explosives expert. Debutante Pranav Mohanlal plays Aadhi, a young and aspiring music producer who gets embroiled in a mess following the death of an influential business magnate's son. How Aadhi spends his life after that being chased by the man's goons for the rest of the plot is what the film primarily talks about, where he also showcases his parkour skills and a sudden energy to solve the issue on his own. While director Joseph has used family threads and parents-son relationship as an element to attract his viewers, the plothole-ridden story never succeeds to keep them hooked. It's an exaggerated play that goes on and on, supported by a contrived narrative. Mohanlal's amateur and dull performance is the highlight of Aadhi, as he follows his director's cue like a frightened kindergarten child during a time of crisis. There is not a single interesting element that would make Aadhi a better rendition of Oozham, which is also a prime example of cinematic hyperbole. When even the talented Lena slips in her performance and Siddique made to look like a joker with his toupee, it is clear that Aadhi was a hurried attempt at launching the star child. There is no other reason why someone would make this film, which is one full hour of chase sequences and the remaining ninety minutes of mind-boggling claptrap. If you are someone who supports nepotism and consider yourself automatically a fan of your favorite actor, then Aadhi is something you can catch this weekend on DVD. TN.

This movie will be enjoyed by those that enjoy action and more realistic fight scenes where bad guys don't go flying in every direction known to man with just a flick of the hero's fingers. The character has to put in a little more effort and actually gets gut-punched right back more than a couple of times. The parkour and running were brilliant and i remember leaving the theater feeling really badass wanting to kick a few people. That's how i realized despite the few glaring errors, i enjoyed the movie.

In terms of acting, Pranav Mohanlal seemed to take an ascending slope. It is a blessing the film didn't call for any real dramatic interpretation and acting. There weren't many dialogues to deliver nor too many emotional scenes to depict. Despite starting a little rocky (felt the first couple of scenes were slightly awkward but maybe that was because of the slight lag i felt between the dubbing and acting), Pranav seemed to adjust to the film better in the second half. He seemed the most comfortable doing the parkour bits. When he didn't have to face another person, bite out a couple of pre-planned dialogues, only run around and do his own thing. There were however many overused scenes, a cliche to films like these.

Another thing worth mentioning are the rest of the cast. Siddique was as natural as ever (he gets better in every film!) Anusree was hilarious and gave something to laugh about in an otherwise dull scene. Aditi Ravi could've slightly turned down her enthusiasm for a certain song and Lena could've done the same during one of her hysterical cries. I know she can do better. I've seen Traffic.

I did find the ending a little abrupt however symbolic it seemed. But overall, it was a decent film with the inevitable mistakes of a first time.

This is just a desperate attempt to launch the superstar's son... I din't see anything special or extraordinary in this movie..... Pranav Mohanlal is just an average (may be below average) actor... He is lucky to be Shri Mohanlal's son...otherwise i dont think anyone would risk a high budget movie to launch Pranav.

The film has thrilling PARKOUR stunt (first time in malayalam) sequences which is performed by young actor without dupe. PARANAV MOHANLAL proved that he is an multi-talented champ who is a good GUITARIST,SINGER,STUNT GURU,LYRICIST through the first film itself. Acting is excellent except in some family emotion scenes. 'GYPSY WOMEN' song in the film is written and sung by PARANAV. The plot of the film is not new. But the way of story narration is completely different. PRANAV'S success as an singer,lyricist and guitarist is proved by youtube trending of his song. The actor also managed to grab a bunch of housefull shows through his acting and stunt performance. Considering it as an DEBUT film of a young actor he has done best of him and is far better than recent Debuts of actors like Dulquer,Nivin,Asif. Watching the film without hyped anticipation won't disappoint you. Rating(9/10){CONSIDERING AS A DEBUT FILM}.