Vaashi

Vaashi is a well-made courtroom drama that's a welcome change for me from the usual masala flicks. The feature utilizes its time well and introduced the characters, especially the two leads. This film is in part a romantic drama and a courtroom drama. I have to say both sides work really well to make this film is engaging and attention grabbing. This film wouldn't have worked if the characters are underdeveloped and the actors are subpar. The characters are so rich, each with their own personalities. The two lead actors are excellent in portraying characters with flaws and contrasting ideals. It was interesting to see how their professional lives progressively affects their personal lives. The case become intense as the story moves along, to the point where they don't speak to each other, their lack of professionalism all comes down to how much they needed to win the case and prove that they are better than the other. At some point, it's not even about their clients but their ego. I like the juxtaposition of the case as to how the male character represent the female client and vice versa in such a sensitive issue. It provides a fresh perspective and they both present valid points. On the whole, a really charming film with nice script, well-drawn characters and decent performances.

Cinema in the recent times have made so conditioned to the idea that everything needs to be overly dramatised and larger than life. It is refreshing to see movies that keep the narrative a little bit more rooted. I enjoyed how Vaashi depicts the Court Room as a Court Room and not like a Battlefield of screaming and shouting. Well written, Very relevant and definitely thought provoking.

The story is very interesting and the movie kept the audience engaged throughout the film. Performance from Keerthy Suresh mam is brilliant. Tovino sir played his role really good. Over all a good film to watch.

Ebin(Tovino) and Madhavi(Keerthy) are two aspiring lawyers and are in love with each other. Ebin is from a rich and influential Christian family and madhavi is from a middle class hindu family with only her mother. Ebin, with the influence of his brother in law Jose(Rony) is appointed as a public prosecutor. Ebin is first assigned a case of a girl anusha by her father who files a case against her colleague gautham for having sex with her with the promise of marrying her and later cheating her. Its madhavi who appears for gautham since they are childhood friends. For ebin, its his first case as public prosecutor and a prestige issue. On the other hand for madhavi its her family friend. Hence both can't withdraw from this case. On top of that, due to family pressure both have to get married while this case is going on. How this case take a toll on their married life and whether they can live happily keeping their professional differences aside is the rest of the movie.

Vaashi has an interesting plot backed by decent performances from tovino and keerthy. But it suffers from extremely mediocre direction and production values. Script tries to be on a safe zone and the courtroom is not hardhitting.

Vaashi never rises above watchable, but its core premise is refreshing. While the film has a breezy first half which portrays the chemistry between the leads (Tovino & Keerthy), the second half which covers a larger portion of the courtroom drama lacks a certain dramatic intensity. The case presented is one of contemporary significance, and the performances do not disappoint. But somewhere along the way, the the writing loses its grip on the viewer. Ego clashes aren't exactly new to Malayalam cinema, and neither are courtroom dramas, but the challenge for director Vishnu Raghav was to come up with a compelling, cogent plot with sufficient texture. He succeeds to some extent and it isn't easy to pick sides here. That being said, the film's central conflict (i.e. The ego clash) is resolved rather easily while the legal tussle concludes in predictable fashion.