Bilahari’s ‘Allu Ramendran’ is a scaled down ‘Maheshinte Prathikaram’ that talks of how individual enmity and personal vendetta could rule and ruin human lives, when it turns obsessive and fanatical. What it lacks are the emotional nuances and that the fine sensibilities latter film had in abundance.
Bilahari’s ‘Allu Ramendran’ is a scaled down ‘Maheshinte Prathikaram’ that talks of how individual enmity and personal vendetta could rule and ruin human lives, when it turns obsessive and fanatical. What it lacks are the emotional nuances and the fine sensibilities that the latter film had in abundance.
Ramachandran (Kunchacko Boban) is a civil police officer, who mostly minds his own business and leads an uneventful life with his wife Viji (Chandini Sreedharan). His sister Swathi (Aparna Balamurali) falls in love with Jithu (Krishna Shankar), a young man who has returned back home after a short job stint at the Gulf.
With no particular enemies in sight, Ramachandran is appalled and devastated when he realizes that someone out there is hell bent on ruining his life. The strategy that his undetectable adversary adopts is one that is unique, in that he deliberately drops nails along his path, thereby puncturing the tyres of the police jeep.
Ramachandran in no time, earns for himself the nickname ‘Allu Ramendran’ and with no other option in sight, goes on a long leave from service. Embarrassed and tormented by the punctured tyres, Ramachandran starts suspecting every familiar face around him, much to the chagrin of his family that watches him with growing concern.
There is a sensible thread within the film that stresses on how even what appears like the silliest of acts could wreak havoc on your lives, when someone is determined to teach you a lesson or two. In a remarkable scene in which Ramachandran is seen riding a bike, this sentiment is so vividly put across, when he slows down terribly, cautiously watching the road ahead for possible nails that could be dropped his way.
There is also a bit of initial excitement when Ramachandran decides to unmask his foe, but around midpoint, the veil is pulled off the antagonist’s face. Thereon, the film finds itself on a nail ridden ground where its own tyres get repeatedly punctured, with the several inconsistencies that repeatedly mar its script.
The revenge saga that ‘Allu Ramendran’ emerges to be in the latter half robs the film of the verve that it had put on show, albeit intermittently in the former half. It’s through a series of ludicrous acts that Ramachandran seeks his vengeance, and none of them lack the intensity that the film demands, as light hearted as it tries to come across.
The climax too, is a bit too contrived, and though it does establish sans any doubt that all is well, one does wish that the writing had been a bit more imaginative as the film progressed. There is a lot of effort that has been put into a comedy track that runs in the police station headed by a Sub Inspector Sinto (Salim Kumar), which hardly works.
It’s refreshing to see Kunchacko Boban in a tough avatar and to be fair to the actor, he does give it his very best and comes up trumps. There are also believable performances from actors as Krishna Shankar, Aparna Balamurali, Chandini Sreedharan, Dharmajan, Hareesh Perumanna, Salim Kumar, Krishnaprabha, Sreenath Bhasi and Sarasa Balussery, to mention a few.
‘Allu Ramendran’ could very well have done away with those several songs that spring up at random, and the numerous futile attempts to work up some hilarity. It could also have been a much better cinematic experience, had it tweaked its script further to squeeze out its narrative flaws.
Verdict: Average