Neru

Anyone would agree that its just a standard legal drama. The casting and the setting doesnt seem very expensive or captivating. But the brilliant direction is evident in every detail. Main characters have been casted very well in every way possible. Jeethu joseph does not need any special introduction in such a genre since he has proved his excellence in many of his previous movies. As an average mohanlal enthusiast and a consistent critique of his work, I feel that this must go down as one of his best modern work. He has input an element of his own as well as adhered to the character presented by the director. Movie portrays characteristics of resilience and persistence. A must watch.

At the interval stage now. .. (updated !)

The movie started reasonable, but soon it was evident that this was not going to be anything of the class the director delivered in Drishyam.

Then the trial started and the "classic masala" started pouring thru. With the defense lawyer doing a character assassination in court, something that has been disallowed for a long time now. Only to allow Mohanlal to deliver a punch dialogue shortly after.

Then the accused makes an another attempt at the victim, with goondas and all. Saw this is a masala movie, from the 90s??

Oh boy I am now trembling at what could exist going forward.

So far the homework by director and acting by "actors" are below par.

Post interval things, picked up a bit. From court room drama, it moves to crime investigation.

But there are bits of court room, so unlike what you see in Nna thaan case kodu or even Naradan.

The climax and situation leading to it was so predictable. I was wondering why this wasnt done even before, because it was a crucial question raised early on.

I changed my rating from 4/10 to 5, thanks to a few scenes in the 2nd half.

The same team had done Drishyam 10 years ago, which has become a milestone movie, not just in Malayalam but across Indian movie industry. Any movie they do now will be compared to that movie.

There are some common elements, but Neru is a totally different movie, both the theme and the mood of the movie. This is emotionally more draining than Drishyam, while it does not have the sheer audacity and shock value that Drishyam had

The best part of the movie is the script. After 10 minutes or so, the movie just hooks you in, and you can't look away even for a minute, till the very last scene in the climax, which will most probably leave you teary eyed.

Performances are top notch. Special mentions to Sidhique and Jagadish. Two actors who were doing Tier 2 comedy movies 30 years ago, but their acting careers are on a totally high trajectory.

But this movie is carried by Mohanlal and then Anaswara Rajan. Yes, Mohanlal is one of the greatest actors in India and his performance is expected, but Anaswara matches him best for best. Their scene together in the first half and then in the climax will leave you spell bound

On the flip side, don't expect any out of the world movie making techniques. Technically the movie is just passable, but that is a typical Jeethu Joseph style. He let the script and performances take centre stage. The Cameraman, editor and music director just do their job in the back ground

Last but not the least, spare a thought for the genius of Jeethu. Making one edge of the seat thriller like Drishyam is impossible for 9/10 writer directors. But he has now done 4 movies at that level (Drishyam 1 & 2, Memorie and Neru). Hats off man, and hope you outdo yourself in your next one.

This is a decent attempt from Jeethu Joseph. Nothing like Drishyam or even Kooman, but engaging and watchable. The thread is good, but the climax was predictable and also very melodramatic. Also, the casting in the movie was off in multiple places. The primary example is Shanti Mayadevi. She simply cannot act and is awkward in a majority of the scenes. I totally understand, that's not her forte, but why give her such a meaty role? The victims mother also couldn't handle the emotional scenes. Also, Jeethu succumbs to the usual tropes of overdoing some scenes - like the incompetence of the first lawyer. The movie is also unnecessarily long and spends insane amounts of time on a CCTV visual. I'm summary, it's a good attempt and an engaging court drama, but not as stellar as it's touted to be.

Even with a predictable storyline Jeethu Joseph's mastery of scriptwriting with Shanthi Mayadevi's knowledge as an advocate makes this engaging and effective. Jeethu Joseph has always been a better writer than a director and there are a lot of instances in the movie that clearly shows that aspect. Some of the smaller characters' acting was not very good, the music was overused a lot and there were a few things that could've been trimmed out. But when it works, the film works great. Even though, it's not something very novel, Mohanlal saying some dialogues did make me clap hard, knowing that I'm sitting in a packed theatre with a lot of families. Anaswara and Siddique were brilliant in their roles and Mohanlal has done a role that is subtle, vulnerable and serious in a very effective way after a long time. Despite the film using easy ways to tell a lot of things, despite the plot being nothing new, it being not new makes more of a case of how it is still so important in every aspect, due to which I was very satisfied by the end of the movie.