Cast: Jayaram, Unni Mukundan, Amala Paul, Prakash Raj, Adil Ibrahim, Sanju Sivaram
Director: Kannan Thamarakkulam
Rating: 2.5 stars
Director Kannan Thamarakkulam has tried his hand at directing a comedy in his third outing and has not managed to quite pull it off. The story, in a nutshell, is about four hard-drinking cousins played by Jayaram, Unni Mukundan, Adil Ibrahim and Sanju Sivaram who embark on a wild road trip before Unni ties the knot with Sshivada (who is wasted in this role). It seems the liquor ban has spawned a spate of movies that seem to glorify boozing and seem to think nothing of the influence it has on impressionable minds.
After a lot of scenes that show various innovative ways to mix and serve alcohol, the four cousins are forced to go to a retreat centre by their families to mend their ways but are then caught boozing and thrown out. They then take a decision to go for one last road trip and find themselves caught in a murder scene. The initial part of the film takes a lot of unwanted time to set up the characters in a very stylish manner proving to be a drag. The song-and-dance sequences in the first half play dampeners and do nothing for the film.
Scriptwriter Sethu manages to salvage the film in the second half with some thrilling moments and keeps the momentum alive. The entry of Prakash Raj as the commissioner in charge of the case has done a lot to perk up the film and Amala Paul and Anu Sithara have played their parts well. Amala has undergone a complete makeover as a biker chick girl who is also a hard drinker, and smoker, too.
The director seems to have spent a lot of time and effort in trying to make the characters stylish and it has paid off. The four cousins look very classy and stylish not to mention Amala. In spite of a powerhouse pool of talent like Prakash Raj, Jayaram, Amala and Unni, the script totters somewhere. Unni has proved his mettle as a singer, and the song is melodious. A one-time watch for the style quotient and some rib ticklers.
