In Sujith Vasudev’a ‘Autorsha’ there is an abundance that spills over, literally and which overflows along the seams. Brimming over with characters left, right and center, ‘Autorsha’ is a film that apparently has plenty to tell, and even does so, but which in the process, tips out its contents all over the place.
In Sujith Vasudev’a ‘Autorsha’ there is an abundance that spills over, literally and which overflows along the seams. Brimming over with characters left, right and center, ‘Autorsha’ is a film that apparently has plenty to tell, and even does so, but which in the process, tips out its contents all over the place.
Kannur is where ‘Autorsha’ is based, and the land that has been infamous for political bloodshed seems so far away from the terrain on screen. This for once, seems a peaceful place where men and women seem too busy leading their diminutive lives, so much so that everything else, including politics appears secondary to them.
It takes a long while for ‘Autorsha’ to pedal start into action, and there is an entire former half that is devoted to the auto rickshaw drivers at the auto stand, one of whom is Anitha (Anusree). But she seems so distantly placed, so far away from the focus, and there are several other key characters walking in and out of the picture all the time.
‘Autorsha’ is essentially a tale of revenge, an objective that becomes obvious around half way time. Thereon, it tries diverse strategies to keep the viewers glued on to the action on the screen, but the impact is far from desired, majorly on account of the familiarity that is associated with the proceedings.
Anusree is one of the finest actors that we currently have in Malayalam, and she has repeatedly outshone the rest of the crew in several films of hers. ‘Autorsha’ is no exception, and the actor is nothing short of excellent as the woman driver with a spine of steel, and delivers a performance that is downright authentic.
One might wonder if the film has anything in common with celebrated auto rickshaw films of the past, and it should be maintained that ‘Autorsha’ does wield a spade of its own to lay out its track. However, it also remains that it has very little that is ingenious to offer and makes do with situations that are often make believe.
The film does spring to life for a few minutes before the final curtains are drawn, but looking back, it’s indeed a long wait. An exhausting lingering around that takes quite a while to accomplish what it had set out for, it makes do with a hotchpotch of sequences that are haphazardly arranged that at times tugs at the strings of your patience.
The film also has incredible performances from a bunch of actors who don the roles of auto drivers, most of whom are fresh faces on the screen. We are bound to watch several of them on screen again, and there are also significant feats from seasoned actors as Tini Tom and Rahul Madhav who appear in roles of note.
‘Autorsha’ hardly rises up to the expectations that it had raised as a woman centric film, and as such strikes you as a compromise of sorts; a conventional compromise where it falsely assumes that a bit too much of the whole thing is probably good, and that a little bit of everything would add up to something exceptional.
Verdict: Average