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August 19, 2009

Review: Rithu



Reviewed by nikhimenon


Shyaama Prasad is a director whose movies i have always looked forward to.All his works, be it the sincere 'Agnisakshi' or the recent 'Ore Kadal' , had been poignant and utmost honest attempts.His latest one ,Rithu is no different.It's infact a poetic and at the same time a realistic take on the lifes of three I.T. professionals of the present generation.It's all about love,friendship and betrayal, At the same time shyaam has tried his best to avoid cliches, candyfloss romance and other gimmicks which are usually associated which films belonging to this genre.

Sharath,varsha and sunny are childhood friends.Sharath still clings on to the childhood memories and wants to fulfil their childhood aspirations.But little did he realise that his other two friends have changed a lot in their attitudes and lifestyle.Varsha has turned to a flirt while Sunny has become a homosexual.How Sharath realises all these and his desperate attempts to re-live those good old days is what Rithu is all about.

The good thing about Rithu is that unlike most of the recent malayalam movies (which have come out claiming to be about I.T. professionals and ultimately ending up as the usual song-n-dance routine stuff..) is different,realistic and most importantly has it's heart in the right place.All the three new comers(Nishanth, Reema and Asif Ali) who play the protagonists have given their heart and soul to their characters and we are seldom reminded that this is their first movie.But the same cannot be said about the screenplay, written by Joshua Newton (a well known journo) which is incidentally the biggest drawback of the film.The script is highly inconsistent at times and i wish Joshua had given a bit more care in developing the character of Varsha. Nothing much really happens in the first half of the movie which moves in a sluggish manner which a lot of time being wasted showing the party life of the protagonists.The dialogues are most of the time artificial and ends up being un intentionally funny at places.For instance ,there is a scene in the first half when sharath's father collapses in the hospital and a nurse responds to sharath's query about his father's condition." Ivide irunna sir ano...adhehathinu shwasam poyi......!" c'mmon sister, what did you mean by that?!!!!!

The scenes at sharath's ancestral home and his conversation with his mother are also executed poorly and gives a sense of watching a stage play with the characters on screen delivering long monologues and achadi malayalam.

But all these flaws apart, Rithu is undoubtedly a well made film and is definitely one of the most technically brilliant films ever made in malayalam.It's neither preachy nor overtly melodramatic.The cinematography by shyam dutt is top class.Especially , the flash back scenes of sunny, varsha and sharath shot by the side of a lake is a pure eye candy to watch.The songs by Rahul Raaj are hummable and at the same time suits the mood of the film.Editing could have been a bit more crisp, but that is excusable.On the whole hats off to shyaama prasad and his team for trying something daringly different.


verdict: above average

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

this movie suks balls

Anonymous said...

this movie suks balls