One always expects creative projects from this team who previously brought us films like Thattathin Marayathu (2012), Neram (2013), and 1983 (2014). Even this time around, they have unsurprisingly shoveled the story aside and focused on slapstick.
Umesh (Pauly) is a failure in life - failure in studies and failure in love. As a result, he hasn't earned respect from his friends or acquaintances, let alone his nuclear family. So to come out as a winner by leaving his failures behind, he tries his hand at his passion - cinema. While the story begins to move forward with a slow pace, it suddenly achieves a paradigm shift and changes track into becoming a pontificating drama about the internet life.
The screenplay starts with taking potshots at the lives and culture of today's youth that is more governed by the internet (read Facebook and WhatsApp, according to the film) and less by their conscience and life purpose. And that is the chief theme of the film. Umesh and his team (Varghese, Srinivasan) then get entangled in a cyber case involving Daisy (Mohan), a character that brings back the memories of a poorly made, Tamil, and Malayalam-dubbed film Asha Black (2014), which is about two young people who meet over the web and fall in love, of course with its parade of consequences.
Oodles of humor showers throughout the film, thanks to Srinivasan's good writing, coupled by some great performances by Pauly and Varghese. It is evident that the direction is amateurish and the actors have implemented heavy improvisation. Every time the film goes haywire, the screwball humor takes over. And that should be the deciding element if one chooses to watch it.
Engineering life is highly made fun of, which shows what the makers had in mind - to tell a story that will appeal to the youth and educate them about the perils of online presence and relationships. How Engineering students fail to understand the basics of life is another valid point the screenplay makes. But if one looks closely, there is no substance to hold on to in G. Prajith's debut feature. It is just slapstick, a brief, thrilling adventure, and a sermon. At the end, it becomes so obvious that the characters jump on your face and preach.
Pauly is a great actor and in here, he is back to what he does best - portray a middle-class guy with no purpose in life. Varghese is the comedian, while Srinivasan is the brains. It is real fun to watch Srinivasan's creativity unfold. Manjima Mohan looks like she rehearsed for the role watching VHS tapes of her debut film Priyam (late 90s), and thus, fails to impress. Music is good, but some songs looked out of place.
Adding to the cons is the fake production setup that lacks realism. There are numerous instances when the setup betrays the film of the conviction that it requires to make a point. The paradigm shift extends the comedy but it so works itself that the second half, which demands a serious turn of events, stumbles in its own wedge to eventually fall into a puddle. It cannot exactly be termed a drag, but the plot does stray outside its circle. Plus, it saddens one to learn that the comic journey was mounting up for a lowbrow inference.
BOTTOM LINE: While the world is battling self-inflicted solitary due to the web, this film comes as an old update with backward compatibility. All said and done, if you love slapstick humor then Oru Vadakkan Selfie is for you. It is a watchable comedy and does a good job, when it comes to comparing with other recent releases, and let's not get started on them. 5/10 - recommended for a one-time view.
Can be watched with a typical Indian family? YES
