Salala Mobiles movie review: Your personal mobile would entertain more

Movie: Salala Mobiles
Cast: Dulquer Salman, Nazriya Nazim and Jacob Gregory
Director: Sharath A. Haridaasan
Rating: One and a half stars

Kochi: Some of the decisions taken by the godfathers of the industry are truly incredible. We hear that they spend hours of their free time listening to a variety of scripts; some, very interesting. And then, we are offered two of the most happening stars at the moment, in a film (Salala Mobiles) without a story?

As if to compensate for the lack of a plot and proper dialogues, the audience is invited to participate in telephonic voyeurism.

What this one is all about: A lazy, handsome fellow (Dulquer Salmaan) is infatuated with an attractive girl (Nazriya Nazim) at the bus stop opposite his mobile store. He installs a phone tapping software and at close to midnight, every night, he eavesdrops on the intimate conversations of his customers, including, of course, the girl for whom he yearns.

One wonders if the public announcement of Nazriya’s proposed nuptials were a little premature. Millions of her fans have been heartbroken; evident from a certain irrational debate that the news has provoked. And this has obviously affected the box collections. She’s sweet.

Dulquer was born and is being raised under golden rays; a rare privilege. And his image of a dreamy romantic with an angry undercurrent continues to endear. His flop films shall quickly be forgotten the moment the next hit comes up; and one indeed appears to be just around the corner. But flops as well as his refusal to showcase his broader acting skills significantly delay his chances of attaining mega stardom.

The duo isn’t together onscreen for very many minutes. But when they are, in particular, in a couple of nice songs, the chemistry is lovable.

The fighting stunts are real. In one, Dulquer demonstrates the other side of his acting; the violent side. In the other, he’s the picture of the ordinary man on the street.  Sure that he needs to defend his girl, but very unsure how, he raises both his hands like a boxer. He swings wildly, gets hit, and falls. Then picks himself up, rushes forward, and frenziedly drums on his cowering opponent with his open palms.

Stars, prettiness, fights, songs, and running on the mountainside are fine as secondary elements, but they all fall flat in the absence of the primary requisite.

Films with no storyline are an insult to the grand literary heritage of Malayalam. It’s a shame that intelligent people who matter still encourage nonsense at the cost of starving, obscure writers with depth waiting desperately for someone to pick up their dream stories.