Villain

Villain is such a huge disappointment. It had so much potential even though the storyline was something we've seen before. There were some cliche breaking too. A hero who walks away from his revenge is may be something never happened before in Malayalam movies.

The poorly written screenplay is the real villain in this movie. The first half was decent. B Unnikrishnan shifted to top gear all of sudden. The writing was so impatient. How Mathew(Mohanlal) finds out about the murderer is too convenient. Then there are the songs. I don't know what's with Unnikrishnan and bad rock songs. I guess you know about "Aaranu Nee" from Grandmaster. He could've easily shown she's part of a band without using a whole song. The rest of the songs just increases the duration and serves no purpose. Kandittum Kanditum was good though.

Mohanlal's performance stands out. That was casting done well. His physique, the grey beard suits a veteran police officer who's been through a lot. Mathew Manjooran is one of the most underrated performance in Malayalam cinema. Watch Villain for that reason alone.

For a movie that has created so much hype right from its initial making stages, Villain is a botched effort of a psychological thriller. No novelty in presentation , no mystery around the killer and an overall lack of substance - amidst all the reasons to skip this flick, it is the towering presence of Mohanlal and his timeless acting prowess that makes the movie a onetime watch. 'Acting his Age' is a beaten to death critique of our two superstars, but this film character (not black or white, but grey, as the movie itself speaks!) corresponds to the lead actors age and charisma wonderfully. Showing amazing restraint in his bravura act of a broken down cop, Lal emotes so well in the hospital scenes and in his overall non-heroic cop avatar. Some scenes in the hospital bed have shades of Lal's Sathyanathan character from Sadayam movie (1992), the whole lot of mental trauma bringing out the dare to commit the unthinkable. The absence of mass element and the way he has underplayed the character (something for which I rate him better than Kamal Hassan) is sure a promise of many more realistic acts expected from this gifted man, a-la his best performances during the 90's.

Summary (no spoilers)

This movie is based on a killer who teases the entire police department with his flawless crimes and gets chased by a retired cop whose past influences the killers future with the cat and mouse game getting out of hand.

My Review (no spoilers)

There was nothing wrong in the directing or acting in this movie but it was the writing. I felt the script was incomplete. They just rushed thru to finish the movie with the most lame ending ever. One outstanding acting was of Manju Warrier where her role was done to perfection no wonder she is called the lady superstar of Malayalam movie industry. Mohanlal was the other one with his perfect acting, explosive action and mind blowing dialogues kept the viewers pinned to the screen. I felt Vishal, Hansika and Raashi were all underutilized for their respective roles in this movie. I liked one song from this movie named "Kandittum Kandittum" it would be in my head for a while. I think Mohanlal and Vishal needed a good BGM for their roles too. Overall had a promising start but went downhill later on.

My Recommendation

Yes, I would say to watch out for Mohanlal and Manju Warriers acting combo.

My Rating

6/10

The good part of the film reminds of one of B Unnikrishnan and Mohanlal's previous collaboration that worked like Grandmaster and the bad parts reminds of their atrocious collaboration in Mr Fraud. The cinematographer and the actors have done their jobs really well here but the script constantly tries to be something bigger. By trying to include too many social issues and philosophy the film loses its grip on the whole. The plot gets convoluted with too many character arcs which are not smoothly dealt with. The production design has to be the worst part where you understand that the makers have learned nothing from Mr Fraud. Yet the film has its moments, the cinematography and the music creates an atmosphere that keeps the film alive and Mohanlal is always great.

Film director B.Unni has been here for very long time and yet he hasn't delivered a film which could satiate my hunger for good films(grandmaster is exception though). Same could be say about villain. I was skeptical after watching film trailer and to horror reports published on first day were mixed mostly. The biggest let down in this crime thriller is definitely its screenplay because film has close to zero thrill element and many loose end which all was juxtaposed together and made it look engaging by just one man Mohanlal. Could be say that it is his best performance since oppam however you could see character had some similarity with grandmaster's chandrasekhar like being nonchalant and calming, however director added more mystery and philosophy element to the Mathew manjooran. Acting wise its a one man show Lal and only actor who came closer to him was Manju. Most other actors had nothing to perform especially two new ladies Hansika and Raashi. I am not quite sure about what to say about vishal. Other supporting characters were as usual good.

Songs were fine so does the bgm. Technical side were pretty good except some logic defying actions.

On negative side: Script Some glibly written characters

Positive: Mohanlal Bgm Some scenes has its moments

People who are expecting drishyam, mumbai police, memories or even grandmaster might be get disappointed because it's less of an investigating thriller and more of emotional story which will caught your attention just here and there. In the end I quote"revenge is a disease". Give it a try if you are a die hard fan of actor Mohanlal.