Bazooka

Director Deeno Dennis made a bold attempt with this film, but unfortunately, the execution doesn't live up to expectations. The decision to take on this project feels like a miscalculation, as the film struggles to maintain the intrigue it builds in the initial moments.

The first 15 minutes are undoubtedly the highlight. With a gripping setup and an air of suspense, it genuinely feels like something major is about to unfold. The atmosphere draws you in, and for a brief period, it promises a thrilling cinematic experience. However, that promise is short-lived.

What follows is a disappointingly flat narrative that never quite takes off. The story meanders without purpose, lacking both tension and emotional depth. Key plot points are either predictable or underdeveloped, and the screenplay fails to offer any surprises that could keep the audience invested. Instead of building toward something impactful, the film loses steam, relying heavily on stretched-out scenes and unnecessary subplots.

Casting choices further weaken the film. The performances are mostly uninspired, with little chemistry among the lead actors. It feels as though the cast was misfit for their roles-none manage to leave a lasting impression or bring life to their characters. As a result, emotional moments fall flat, and even the most dramatic scenes lack weight.

Visually, the film has its moments, and the technical aspects-such as cinematography and sound design-are competent, but they're not enough to compensate for the lackluster storytelling. One can't help but feel that with a better script and tighter direction, this could have been a much stronger film.

In the end, this movie feels like a missed opportunity. What begins as a potentially thrilling ride fizzles out into a forgettable and uninspired experience. It's a film that had the foundation to be great but faltered due to poor narrative choices and weak performances.

Rating - 3.5/5

An action packed game thriller that stands out with a unique filmmaking style and glamour treatment.

The story revolves around a Special investigation team cracking the mystery of a dacoity series in Kochi executed in the form of a multilevel puzzle game and their efforts of hunting the masterbrain forms the crux of the story.

Kudos to Deeno Dennis for materialising a distinctive and unprecedented narrative genre and filmmaking style to Malayalam.👌🏻He has managed to portray the story with top-notch technicality and the styling given,mood, ambience and color tone set for the movie is simply marvellous.🔥The handful characters portrayed through the story has got immense scope for performance even in the shortest screen space. The film must be watched in a 4K Dolby Atmos theatre to get the best sound experience.

Incredible performances by Mammootty,Gautam Menon & Hakim Shajahan. Sidharth Bharathan,Dino Dennis,Bhama Arun,Divya Pillai & Joemon Jyothir gave notable performances.

Nimish Ravi has precisely picturised the vision of the director on screen. Hats off to the musician Saeed Abbas and the sound designers Sachin Sudhakaran & Hariharan for giving wholesome and groovy sounds. All credit goes to his personal stylist Abhijith for presenting Mammootty in the most stylish,swagger avatar like never before. The effort he has put in choosing the perfect accessories for the Megastar is evident on the screens. Impressive efforts by Srik Varier for the color grading for maintaining the mood of the movie deserves appreciation. Last but not the least the editor Praveen Prabhakar,Nishadh Yusuf (late) and the Production Design team and Stunt choreographers also deserves appreciation for their contribution.

A must watch films for Mammootty fans in theatres promising a novel experience.

April 1992, in cinematic lingua - towards the latter part of the BM era ( Before Multiplex) , a smattering of us college mates in Ernakulam waited anxiously outside Kavitha theatre on MG road. It was 9 am on a hot summer morning. We were not alone, in fact we were part of a massive crowd. A police jeep pulled up and as was the practise in those days - a couple of cops jumped out and showered abuses in general - not at anyone in specific and brandished the lathi specifically at some head load labourers who shouted back at the cops. The crowd moved to one side of the road allowing vehicles to pass by. Amidst this flutter the gates opened resulting in everyone rushing in to get to the box office - most of them running, some of them screaming - much like a river in spate. The box office was a caged enclosure and a sweaty queue formed quickly destined to wait for the next couple of hours, packed like a box of sardines. Devoid of the smarts and dexterity of the experienced folks we ended up disheartened at the tail end of the queue but given the dynamic situation of more people streaming in to join the line we were happy to see that after some time we were relatively in the middle of the queue. Some of us being students of science, maths and statistics began calculating our chances of getting tickets but as luck would have it the counter closed and displayed a houseful board when there were about 10 persons ahead of us in the queue. Heads hung low in frustration and body considerably exhausted after all that we had endured for nearly two hours, we began walking back to the gate. That's where we encountered a resourceful chap - unshaven, clad in a vest and chequered lungi, who approached us offering us tickets at double the stated price. We jumped with joy, paid him extra and ran in to sit wherever seats were available since those days seats did not carry numbers and late comers invariably ended up closer to the screen. That was on the release day of a Malayalam film of a reigning megastar. The name of that film bore resemblance to a popular brand of whiskey.

April 2025 ie firmly in the AM era ( After Multiplex), Kavitha theatre is still standing, refurbished. As I drive by around 10 in the morning I see the posters of a Malayalam film which is releasing that day, of a reigning megastar - he is also still standing, reinvented and standing strong. This time there isn't any crowd outside the theatre. On a lark, I park the car and check online for availability of tickets. The show has just begun. Next door to this theatre stands a mall which houses a multiplex and I notice that a few tickets are available and that the show starts there in the next 15 minutes. Bitten by the First Day First Show (FDFS) bug I make an attempt of navigating a U turn, driving into the basement of the mall, making it up all the way to the multiplex to reach 5 minutes before the show time and pull out my phone to book the ticket. That's when I notice a ticket counter there and walk up to join the line since there are only two persons waiting in the queue. A resourceful chap - well groomed, clad in a chequered shirt and jeans approaches me stating that he had booked two tickets but needs only one and is willing to sell me the ticket at half the price. I hesitate and dither when he informs that it is a premium aisle recliner seat in the last but one row farthest from the screen. I transfer money digitally and take a screen shot of the ticket and unhurriedly walk in to watch the FDFS. The name of this film bears resemblance to an anti tank weapon.

The FDFS experience of a superstar film is relatively muted in multiplexes in comparison to single screen theatres - understandably so. But that doesn't stop the cheers, claps and whistles when the megastar makes an entry and on various other occasions which could be called re-entry for want of a better word . Most of those scenes are similar with the megastar stylishly clad in casual chic clothes and cool shades which aren't repeated in any scene, walking into the frame in predictably slow motion set to a pulsating background score. On many occasions characters switch to teacher- student mode wherein one explains things to the other in detail and the other listens patiently. This behaviour is exhibited by many characters and they sometimes switch between these modes to enlighten us throughout the film about the world of gaming, types of games, psychology of gamers etc. The film very broadly is a cat and mouse game depicted through cops and robbers under the overarching umbrella of gaming. The ability of the megastar to emerge unscathed without a blow from his opponents or even a speck of dust falling on him in all those fight sequences is praiseworthy. The loudest cheers, claps and whistles are when the megastar utters those mass dialogues for his fans. One such situation is when a character tells him that times have changed and his time is up. His response with a twinkle in his eyes is that this line has been uttered by many but it is their time which ran out and he continues to flourish. Another line is when a character quizzes the megastar about his role in the plot to which he answers - I've done all kinds of roles.

After the credits roll I leave the theatre with the feeling - I just wish he hadn't done this role.

Director Denno Dennis set the thriller mode through a gaming pattern. No serial killing as we see in a thriller movie but it has all the elements of what a thriller movie requires.

The story begins with the Retired Forensic Expert John Caesar who is on his way to Bangalore. During the travel, he meets Sunny a gamer & some strange things happens during the trip which raises the curiosity of Sunny towards John & then John explains as who he is.

The 1st half , the movie takes through the the robbery happening in different places of Kochin, & how the robber by the mode of various games executes it. Whereas the 2nd half focuses on the cat & mouse game thereby giving surprises during its climax period.

Coming to the screen play, it is able to keep the thrilling mode till the end but it has its own flaws which at a particular point we ask ourselves as " Why all this brain storming was required when it's in right front of you" & some unsolved queries during the end of the movie. More detailing will lead to "SPOILERS".

Also back in 2012 , when " Grand Master" movie starring Mohanlal released, a serial killer giving details to Chandrashekar in the form of letters giving clue of his next murder & later on dropping alphabet book near the victim & thereby unlocking the mystery, a similar approach had been conceived here but as mentioned earlier, Denno had able to keep the thriller mode till the end.

BGM of Saeed Abbas, cinematography of Nimish Ravi & Roby Varghese Raj had able to overshadowed the screenplay flaws.

Coming over to the performance, it is a one-man show of Mega Star Mammooka. His swag, his presence & the last 15-20 min of his madness had accelerated the movie.

Hakim Shah also gave a decent performance. Gautham Vasudev Menon is not a perfect casting as ACP Benjamin Joshua as he fails to lift up the emotion of the character.

Overall, with the presence of Mammooka backed with quality technical support, Denno Dennis threw a decent thriller film.

The movie is actually written good but due to amateur direction and average bgm the movie was going on a medium pace till it reaches the final point. The last 30 minutes of the movie and execution was actually good. The plot twist which was unfolded during that period was a brilliant one. Overall a good experience for me. If the movie was given a bit more good editing and bgm along side a good director it would have been a great one. Mammooty and GVM did a good job while others didn't get any thing to do rather than seeing them in action. The action scenes were good but could have been made better. The investigation scenes and ideas were good in the paper but somewhere got lost in the making. Still don't miss it in the theater if you love to explore the game thriller genre.