Annayum Rasoolum

My review: Annayum Rasoolum

"Annayum Rasoolum" is one of the best romantic flicks in recent times from India. Rajeev Ravi who is famous for his cinematography for movies like "Gangs of Wasseypur" and "Dev D" has made a dream directorial debut with this one. Fahad Fazil and Andrea Jeremiah have lived as Rasool and Anna onscreen. Rajeev Ravi has captured the lifestyle, cultural symbols, religious landscape and mores of Fort Cochin  in a telling manner.

Movie traces the love story of Rasool, a Muslim taxi driver and Anna, a Christian sales girl, their romance, travails, escapades and agonies. Movie moves at a laid back pace which works for it. Ten minutes into the movie, the viewers are transported to Fort Cochin- Vypin area and  start being part of the lives of the people shown onscreen. That is in itself a huge achievement for the director.  If the pace was faster one wonders whether the same level of impact would have been there. Kudos for the director for not compromising on that account.

The emotional connection that is created in the beginning stays throughout the movie, be it joy, sorrow, agony or merriment. Script is flawless, each character and incident are neatly woven to take the story forward. Santhosh Echikkanam has written the screenplay and story is by Rajeev Ravi, Sethunath and Santhosh Echikkanam. 

Casting is apt for the movie. This is career best effort from Fahan Fazil, who is making it a habit of choosing roles and script sensibly and wisely. His portrayal of Rasool is as authentic it can get. He has gotten into the skin of the character. His appearance, body language, dialogue delivery, all represent a care-free young man from Fort Cochin and his way of romancing. It is a pleasure to watch him emote on screen. 

Andrea Jeremiah manages to stand up to Fahad. Though she doesn't have much dialogues  she emotes her way into the hearts of the viewers. Her use of body language and facial expression is too good and carries the role of Anna on her shoulder with aplomb. 

Sunny Wayne is the narrator of the story who is one among the three friends of the protagonist along with Soubin Shahir and  Shine Tom Chako. All these three have done brilliant jobs. Movie has five directors in supporting roles, Ranjit, Ashiq Abu, Balachandran, Joy Mathew and M.G.Sasi. 

Initially one wonders why Rajeev who himself is a fabulous cinematographer has given the job to Madhu Neelakantan. When you watch the movie the answer is evident. The cinematography is awesome. Madhu has not only captured the nature's bounty in all its glory, the human emotions, dark and dirty alleys and the antique architectures of Fort Cochin are also shot excellently. Many visuals are still in one's subjective mind space like  beautiful paintings.

Movie doesn't have much dialogues. Rajeev has banked on the visuals and the background score along with the actors' emotional capability to move the story. And luckily all these three areas have helped him superbly. It is career best effort from the music director K, known for his musical scores in Tamil movies. Background score is the backbone of the movie considering the paucity of dialogues. He has been able to fill in the places where the emotional atmosphere of the scenes get elevated by his musical score. Remix of  "Kannu rendu kannu" and "Kando kando" are first class melodious numbers from K.

"Annayum Rasoolum" is the movie to watch if you an eternal romantic.  This is the movie for you if you are game for a leisurely stroll along the streets and alleys of Fort Cochin, getting to know the people, culture and the love story of Anna and Rasool all along within a period of three hours. 

On the whole, "Annayum Rasoolum" is a poetic portrayal of  contemporary love, is a must watch. Don't miss it. 

Bottomline: Best romantic flick in recent times...!

4/5