David

My review : David

Bejoy Nambiar had a scintillating debut with "Shaitan", an engrossing thriller. Naturally the expectation were high for his second feature film which is a bilingual "David". Movie has an ensemble cast consisting of Vikram, Jiiva, Nasser, Tabu, Lara Dutta, Saurabh Shukla, Isha Sharvani and Rohini Hattangadi.

Movie has an interesting plot of how stories of two persons with the same name from different time periods converge at a point. The problem with the movie is the screenplay especially the Goan story. Goan story with Vikram in the lead is plagued by poorly defined characters, lackadaisical screenplay and silliness in the name of humor. The Mumbai story with Jiiva as the protagonist is better in terms of screenplay and acting.

Vikram is let down once again by poor characterization. Bejoy was an assistant director in "Raavan" and must have seen from close quarters how such a precious talent like Vikram was used shoddily. But unfortunately he has not learned from the mistake of his guru. Vikram's character is poorly etched, only thing that defines his character is that he is under the influence of alcohol almost throughout. Tabu's character is also equally confusing and irritating. Without knowing what is in Isha's mind she and Vikram plotting for the marriage to stop is ridiculous thinking on the part of the writers. And directors idea of humor only irritates the viewers. Isha Sharvani is a doll, both figuratively and literally.

Jiiva has once again put in his sincere effort in a lost course. Faced with series of box-office duds, Jiiva needs to buck up. However no complaints regarding his work in this movie. Nasser and Sheetal Menon lend good support. Character of Lara Dutta is also poorly etched and superficial. Atleast this segment is bearable and keeps the morale going for the viewers.

Two redeeming factors of the movie are music and cinematography. "Oh manamey" & "Iravil ulavava" by Prashant Pillai, and "Kanave kanave" by Anirudh are very good songs. The background score is also good. Rathnavelu, who has filmed the Goa portions and P.S.Vinod, the Mumbai portions have done brilliant work. Cinematography is very good. Each frame stays in the mind for long. If only the support from the writing department was better, movie would have been a fitting follow-up for "Shaitan".

On the whole, Bejoy Nambiar misses the mark by a long way, ends up giving a lazily written, and equally badly made "David" after raising the expectations of the purists with his debut.

Bottomline: Lackadaisical fare.

2/5