Movie review' Daffedar': One-man show

Cast: Tini Tom, Malavika Nair, Sudheer Karamana
Director : Johnson Esthappan

A retired Daffedar, father to an assistant commissioner of police (Sudheer Karamana) and public prosecutor (Jayakrishnan) now lives in a palatial home, with four of his former colleagues for company and a home nurse to tend to all five.

The 65-year-old portrayed by Tini Tom, is uncomfortable with these comforts gifted by his well-off sons. He ambles about the district collectorate every morning in his erstwhile uniform, strikes a bond with the complainants and does his bit to get their grievances redressed. He yearns for his sons to be by his side, but they do not oblige.

The upright man also has ideological conflicts with his corrupt sons. The script’s inherest logic ends with the first half and it nosedives into clichéd melodramatic formulae in the remaining part, perhaps in a desperate attempt to wind up the tale in time.

Tini Tom as 65-year old Daffedar Ayyappan is the saving grace of the movie, constructed on a flaky script. The challenging yet disciplined performance of Tini is truly flawless and proves he has come a long way from the comedian he was once.

The character of Malavika Nair as a bubbly young ‘caretaker’ Aami alias Amala Jose of five old-age persons is ruined by exaggerated dialogues. The relatively familiar cast comprising experienced actors has little to do on a shaky plot.
Summing up, Daffedar is a one-man show. If there is anything that can hold a viewer to their seat till the end, it is Daffedar Ayyappan.