Grandmaster; B.Unnikrishnan’s
summer offering with Mohanlal created quite a buzz with its title and some
trendy music. There is always a sense of apprehension with which you approach a
B.Unnikrishnan movie. Not that he is a bad director, but within his relatively
short career, he has shown the tendencies to be repetitive in his plot lines
and his making styles. With at least three investigative films already under
his belt, Grandmaster gave you the feeling that there might be a fare enough
sprinkling of déjà vu. So, has Unnikrishnan fallen into repetitive patterns or
has he left it behind him?
The movie is about
Chandrashekharan (Mohanlal), newly appointed as the head of the crime
prevention unit. His job is to prevent crime, but he doesn’t seem too
interested in that, he just whiles away time with his chess board. A pretty
sedate way to introduce your protagonist in a thriller! That’s the first place
where Unnikrishnan shows us that this is not another run of the mill movie. As
it is said later, there is a reason behind Chandrashekharan’s apathy towards
his duties – his personal life. Of course, that moment has to come where the
man rises to be the hero. That comes in the form of a kidnapping and the rescue
operation that follows. A bit later on, the real game begins, with someone
challenging the sharp-brained Chandrashekharan to a game of crime. From then
on, it is a cat and mouse game with the challenger bravely leaving clues behind
for the investigator to follow. But, are the clues really what they seem to be?
Watch the Grandmaster’s response.
The most important element in
every investigative movie is the way in which the investigator draws his
conclusions. It should not be too easy, nor should it be incomprehensible.
Unnikrishnan gets that balance right, almost. At first, it seems like a
straightforward chase wherein the investigator has to identify the challenger
before further damage is done. But, then, it is a veiled game. Somewhere,
Unnikrishnan might have pulled the veil in too close. In the middle portion of
the second half, the investigators make conclusions which appear silly and you
don’t have any idea where it comes from. Of course, all the knots are tied
together neatly in the climax, but you do feel a bit perplexed in the middle.
After watching the movie, you
have to rewind all those key portions in your head to put it all together
neatly. How that would go down with the audiences is unpredictable. Also, a
lack of connection to the victims of the crimes reduces the grip of the plot on
the viewer. The victims are almost treated as pieces on a chessboard in what is
a rather bloody game of chess between an obsessed mind and a sharp one.
Unnikrishnan leaves his signature
at many places. In quite a few ways, he seems to be heavily influenced by the
Shaji Kailas school of film-making. You have dramatic images, like the hooded
player and Grandmaster sitting across a chessboard and making their moves. The
fascination with hoods continues with a priest too being shown in a very
similar get up; an early clue to the viewer. Unnikrishnan also unleashes a
heavy dose of English dialogues; there are certain scenes where you can hear
almost no Malayalam. That could have been toned down a bit. Also, the director
needs to work more on the way he picturises action sequences. The one-man
commando operation and the shootout encounter (that looks forced into the
script without any reason whatsoever) both look amateurishly shot. The
protagonists never take cover, but escape serious injury. In a movie that is
intelligent for most parts, the action sequences look strangely out of logic.
The performances: when you have
Mohanlal, you need no better benchmarks. He is suave, stylish and sharp, just
as the role demands. His look in the movie has already gained appreciation,
kudos to the stylist. And, he seems to have trimmed down quite well. Of course,
the role does not demand anything special from him. But, as one of the
dialogues in the movie goes, ‘My roles cannot be done by anyone else’. Narain
is there and is not pushed out of his comfort zone, a pretty easy outing. The
same goes with Jagathy Sreekumar. Priyamani does a neat job, looking mature and
underplays well. Anoop Menon is placed cleverly in the script. Siddique shows
his expertise in the few scenes that he is allowed, a strong villain like him
for a longer duration would have made things more interesting. Roma, surprising
that she accepted this role, but she has done a fair job of it. Babu Anthony
makes an interesting appearance in a very mysterious character.
Grandmaster has very strong
technical points; a slick camera and crisp editing. Deepak Dev chips in with
some good music, though the BGM does sound a bit jarring at times.
The movie wants to be an out and
out investigative thriller. But, the focus is more on the personal game of
chess between the challenger and the grandmaster rather than the crimes itself.
That takes away a bit from the movie. Also, Unnikrishnan holds his cards too
close to his chest for too long for the audience to feel a bit lost in the
middle portions – too much suspense can be a spoiler at times. But, he leaves
very subtle clues here and there, which some might pick up. Overall,
Grandmaster is an intelligent and slick investigative movie which had the
potential to be more gripping. You will like the stylish Mohanlal, realistic
presentation of characters, subdued heroism, economy of songs and the climax
moments. Grandmaster is definitely worth a watch.
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