Aavesham - Ranga Ho!

Aavesham - Malayalam  - Comedy / Drama

 130 mins - Prime Video

I am fairly certain that everyone  who watches this movie would enjoy it, albeit to different levels.  There will be very polarising views after  - from the "nothing new but a template gangster comedy" ( everyone's favourite Munnabhai (utmost respect!)) to the other extreme -  with critics labelling it a black comedy (much like the Tamil director Nelson's  "Doctor" )  

Over the last maybe half decade or so - Most typical genre movies which have been successful in the cinemas are those which seem to love those which offer enough "wow" , "mass" and "meme material" moments.  I oscillate somewhere in between, because this movie (as was Doctor) are slightly more nuanced and credit due to the writer director Jithu Madhavan's  (as with Nelson)  handling of the screenplay, the "pun"ch lines and general treatment of the protagonist's character.

I noticed a similarity with Jithu Madhavan's previous movie (a lovely "horror/comedy" "Romancham") - Boys get together, summon help without knowing the consequences of what they may have unknowingly unleashed! 

Likewise - Three boys from Kerala join a college in Bangalore. They are bullied  and bashed into submission by their seniors( a "Kutty" gang - hilarious buildup at that!) . One of them wants revenge and they end up scouring  bar after bar to find a local gangster to befriend and avenge them!.

Almost 30 mins into the movie-  is when they uncover Ranga (Faahad Faasil) - a flashy gold loving, alcohol drenched, dress in white gangster. He takes a liking to them and adopts the kids and becomes their "saviour"  - As they engage with him, they hear "stories?" of Ranga's exploits from Amban ( an adorable teddy bear - Sajin Gopu) - what transpires is what the movie is about.  

For the sake of repeating myself, one of the better things about the lockdown for me was getting introduced to new age Malayalam cinema and the volcano of FaFa's talent . What an expressive face, piercing eyes, commitment to the character, body language, diction in language (Tamil, Telugu, Kannada now) - an absolute chameleon! (watch him in the Dumb charades sequence)

With so many well written and executed sequences  that would work brilliantly in isolation ,  the movie largely works as a sum of these parts - held truly by FaFa's performance. 

The howlarious credits (both the beginning and the end) ,  FaFa's intro sequence in the washroom, his gangsta style intro song with a towel dance thrown in,  the  "hot on instagram" video , the "wasted" guys waking up at a house warming ceremony, Amma sentiment , FaFa's bilingual threat (no hindi 😁 ), the villain is a Kannada speaking Reddy (Mansoor Ali Khan is a hoot), you see Manyata Tech Park flyover so many times, all very Bangalore , so topical and hard to  miss!

Happy ano?

Ps:- The one thing quite frankly felt excessive and i really wish was toned down is all the  smoking, drinking shown, specially with the younger ones - am sure you still grow up to be cool!.