Oozham

I didn't exactly expect a 'Drishyam' or 'Memories' when I went to watch Jeethu Joseph's latest crime drama 'Oozham' starring Prithviraj Sukumaran. However, when the thrill quotient is abysmally low and predictability is on the rise with each successive sequence, the movie tends to leave absolutely zero impact by the time the end credits roll. This is exactly what happens in the case of 'Oozham'. It's a clear- cut hero vs. villain revenge drama that has been done to death in the history of cinema itself. What makes these flicks engrossing are the innovative methods deployed by the protagonist to seek vengeance against the ones who wronged him. Here, even the methods stick out like a sore thumb. The leads converse with each other as if they're trying to pull off a 'Thani Oruvan'esque style cat and mouse thriller but one can't help getting reminded of Prithviraj's earlier crime thrillers 'Anwar' for the similar light shades used and the feel-good family portions (in Oozham's initial half), '7th Day' for its smooth talking criminal who gets the job done without much hassle, and 'Robin Hood' where the Tam-brahm dude gets wronged by a businessman and ultimately conjures up his own ways to seek redemption. The quick transitions from past to present looks effective initially but gets repetitive after a while.

Cardboard villains who wreak havoc for their own benefit and sporadically speak in English (for a good part of their screen time) take away a sizeable portion of our patience. Jayaprakash is definitely a good actor but the script reduces him to a mere buffoon. The same can be said about Pasupathy's character who at times even seemed unintentionally funny. Balachandra Menon and Neeraj Madhav are alright, but the actress who played Prithviraj's sister in the movie leaves a lot be desired. The cop characters and angles are underdeveloped and ultimately do very little but add to the run-time.

The less said about the plot the better. And I'm not saying that in a positive sense. The kind of screenplay that the viewer is subjected to, appears nothing short of disappointing. You very well know that it doesn't do one bit of good for a movie when people are staring into their phones way too often. Looking at the few positives, the BGM is pretty good and helps amp up the proceedings to a certain extent. I liked the director's idea of cutting a full length and quite well-executed action sequence into itsy-bitsy pieces to intensify the brawny element. However the reasons for all what unfolds on the screen is unquestionably hackneyed and predictability further plays spoilsport.

Quite frankly, the revenge drama (Jeethu claims 'Oozham' isn't a thriller but all signs point to yes!) requires some serious re-work in the editing department. Even then, I'm not sure the movie would be able to grasp the viewer's attention. To top it all, the climax is a complete bummer. This one gets a generous 2 out of five stars.

i just saw the movie oozham. this a fantastic movie for action drama lovers.the simple plot told in a gripping and interesting way.the casting was so great in this movie.again prithviraj proved he is the leader for young malayalam cinema.the visual and sound quality of this movie making standards for malayalam cinema.the way jeethu improved in his directorial skills very evidentical in this movie.the movie follows a fight in to the climax that is superb concept.the editing done great work for that.you cannot take eyes from the screen when the movie begans .i want to watch this movie again and again.the bombing techniques and the small cartton appear on the screen give a different feel .i think this is the best revenge movie ever in malayam not in it's story but the way he take the revenge.

Synopsis - As the name implies it's the story of Surya who takes revenge against the murderer of his entire family as he lost hope for lawful justice.

When Drishyam director Jeethu Joseph is back with yet another thriller pairing with Prathviraj, the expectation was very high. Except for the dramatic narration, I thoroughly enjoyed watching Oozham on big screen. Jeethu introduced us a new genre called "Family Thriller" through Drishyam and he continues to do so through Oozham as well. Unlike his previous ventures (Memories & Drishyam), Jeethu eliminated the element of suspense and demanding the audience to sit back and watch – how he executes the revenge. This time Jeethu has chosen a non-linear narrative were in the movie begins with the climax chase by injecting the events leading up to it, which is completely new to the Malayalam audience. Oozham does have few negative points too - The Script. The plot was excellent, however that is travelling through a weak tread of script which failed to manage the tempo / pace in the first half. Another one is the overflow of English dialogues.

As far as the acting department goes, Prathviraj & Neeraj Madhav stands out among all. Thanks to Jeethu for making the family moments quite memorable. Divya Pillai, Balachandra menon & debut-ant Rasna Pavithran excelled in essaying their characters on screen. Though Pasupathi rendered quite impressive performance as Captain its V Jayaprakash (The main Antagonist) could have been more energetic.

Viswaroopam fame Shamdat's Cinematography was decent enough for Oozham. The innovative explode scenes reminded me of 360 angle sequences in Viswaroopam. Editing was excellent along with its VFX.

Bottom Line - This is strictly not for popcorn movie lovers, but for those who loves watching a thriller in all new way. Oozham is such a refreshing thriller to be enjoyed with family in this festive season.

Crime thrillers are not that easy to construct, and in here, the makers just garnish the product with plot holes so as to make their job convenient and ours cumbersome.

Surya (Prithviraj) is a controlled explosion specialist working in the States. His family lives in Kerala and are currently trying to arrange a marriage for his kid sister. Call it fate, but Surya is forced to witness a heinous crime done to his family, through Skype. A livid Surya flies to India immediately and lays a plan with his survived step-brother Ajmal (Neeraj Madhav) and wife-hopeful Gayathri (Divya Pillai) to avenge the death of his family. But, who killed them? And why?

These are the questions Surya asks himself, but we as an audience know the answers already. So, the screenplay is sort of an anti-climax where things fall in place at the right time without space for mystery. The screenplay is experimentally non-linear where at one side, we have Surya running for his life, and on the other side, his flashbacks of a happy familial life. Director Joseph should be lauded for trying something new here, but should be condemned for serving such a cold recipe. The drama sequences in the first half look contrived, comedy is poorly written and enacted without diligence or intention, and the action sequences are like those roadside dogfights we see where barks is louder than the actual blows. The scenes are stitched together well, but are still ennui-inducing.

Viewers will have a "been there, done that" attitude while watching the second half as Surya goes from target A to target B, all in controlled planning. Reminds one of Raj Babu's intense thriller, Chess (2006) starring Kava Madhavan's second husband. One will recall scenes in other films as you continue watching the charade that happens on-screen. The cast is largely average in their portrayal. Prithviraj definitely needs to buck up in terms of acting as he is slowly going the typecast route. Menon is irritating in the same way he was in his own film which came out in 2015. Madhav and Pashupathi are fine, although the latter tried to look like a 20-year old hit-man when in reality he is 80.

Furthermore, the biggest turnoff that the film offers is the English dialogues. Atrocious is an understatement for the diction and delivery by the cast members as they use the world's universal language to converse with tepid control. Laughs are sure to come out when one hears the absurd sentences spoken by people like Balachandra Menon and V Jayaprakash. I'm not interested in why Joseph made them talk like that or who wrote those dialogues, but the fact is that Malayalam films have always been zero in this field. And if films expect to use this language considerably, they should learn to say it right.

All in all, playing ripoffs of Hans Zimmer in the background and showing close-ups of the lead actor so that we can see his teeth cavity as he jumps from walls and triggers explosions is not the best way to make a film. Makes one wonder whom to give credit for the 2013 hit film, Drishyam: Jeethu Joseph or Keigo Higashino.

BOTTOM LINE: Jeethu Joseph's "Oozham" is a shoddy creation made to cash in on the growing fame of the lead actor. It's just a collection of tidbits extracted from popular revenge dramas. Skim through when it airs on TV.

Can be watched with a typical Indian family? YES

"performance from main actors were also good but the story was average just like normal revenge story's. overall its a well packaged movie." my rating- 3.3/5 (a good revenge drama)

positives- 1.) direction- direction by Jeethu Joseph was damn good. i liked the way he presented this clichéd story through flashback and present style. only because of his direction this movie dint become a bore one. well in most of his movies one can see his craziness in montages and visual effects driven narrative pattern in his past movies. here also director has shown no compromise in using these.

2.) Prithviraj ,Pasupathy and Neeraj - they nailed it!! they all did their parts well but i can not say that this is the best from them (its mainly because of screenplay as it dint give them much opportunities to showcase their skills.)but if you compare with rest all actors then yes these 3 have done it better.

3.)songs and background score- background score was thrilling and out of 2 songs only one song was good. the party song was boring and i felt they could have done it better to make it an interesting one. and using of the first song in some areas as background score was good. background score as i said it was thrilling but then you have heard this type somewhere else(i guess it is copied or inspired from some other thriller movies.) but then it was good and it helped the narration as well so i wont blame it.

4.) edits and Vfx- edits was good but vfx could have been better. why i mentioned vfx in positives is because it wasn't that bad and it made the narration interesting but if they could have edited that vfx slightly then it would have been a best but since its a Malayalam movie and we cant expect that much so its fine.

negatives- 1.)screenplay ,script and story- screenplay and script dint have nothing much to offer but story was repeated and clichéd. well we have seen many similar types of movies in Malayalam and some came into my mind where- chess (Dileep movie) , Avatharam (Dileep movie) and crazy gopalan (dileep movie).(all were Dileep movies ) there are many more but these were the ones that striked in my mind and its only because of that the story looked similar. screenplay dint give much chance to some actors and this effected in a bad way. like for example for Divya pillai's role was short in first half but in second half it was stretched and it dint make any relevance for that character. makers could have detailed her role in first half so that viewers could have digested her part well in second half.if they could have improvised the screenplay and script then it would have been excellent product.

2.) failed to convey thrill- yes you heard it right because the thrill factor wasn't there. jeethu tried his best to add thrill through back and forth narration style and i am not saying that was a bad idea but then though it dint work out properly. i think screenplay was responsible for this because it dint have elements that are required for thriller movies.

3.)party song- it was boring is it a must watch? not a must watch but yes you can watch it with your family for time pass and i guarantee it wont bore you because of Jeethu's direction ,some actors performance and background score for sure.

overall- i know i have been repeatedly praising Jeethu Joseph's direction in this review and its only because he has done it neatly and i don't want you to forget that (that was the main reason for repeating it ). so in short Oozham is a good watch or maybe a time pass watch for some but don't expect this to be a suspense thriller as this movie works only because of minimal twists Jeethu Joseph has enclosed at major plot points.

my rating- 3.3/5( a good revenge drama ) (time pass for some)