Hi I am Tony Malayalam Movie
Having a reasonably good expectation of the movie that you're going to watch is essential to your enjoyment as well as that of others in the theater. If you have no taste for a particular genre of Cinema, say Psychological Thriller genre, it's better to avoid such movies especially if you cannot contain your displeasure or discontent in public places. That the movie's genre is not comedy, not regular suspense thriller, not drama, not romance, not action, was very clearly publicized. I personally feel that the booing and hooting in the Cinema could have been avoided.
It's not quite often that one gets to see movies which give you contentment. Contentment of having watched care and detail in every single frame, of having been a part of the plot that requires audience's minds to work in parallel (typical to the Psychological Thriller genre movies), of having witnessed high standards of movie-making technicalities, and contentment of having seen the spectacle of excellent performance by some of the finest artists of Malayalam Cinema. Hi I'm Tony is one such brilliant movie.
When Tony (Lal) intrudes into the romantic evening of the just-married Bangalore couple Sameer (Asif Ali) and Tina (Miya), in their super-luxury flat given to them by Sameer's Achayan (Biju Menon) as a part of a business deal, little did they know what was waiting for them in the thick hours of the night. The night uncovers the dread, the intrigue, the plight, the misery, and finally the plot ... slowly and eerily. There are just about six characters that you see in the 141 minutes of runtime, with the three of them flashing their presence only once in a while. So you are left with just three characters, moving in and out and around you, most of the time very close to your face, in daunting silence that breaks in between when the thunder and lightning peeps into the flat, or when the riveting background score schemes to give you the creeps.
Hi I'm Tony is neither for those weak-hearted viewers who cannot take violence, blood splatter, murder, and such darker emotions on screen lightly as figments of imagination. Elements of torture, horror, ulterior discomfort etc. are a part of psycho thriller movies. Ambiguities, symbolism, complex behaviour by the protagonist and/or the antagonist, which can sometimes not be understood by untrained minds, are also standard elements of the genre. Thank God, Lal Junior clearly stayed off such complexities in his experimental creation, making it relatively easy for simple viewers like the most of us.
The hard work that has gone into the making is visible in every bit of the movie. There is no single frame that's out of place, which vouches strongly for the great direction and editing. The camera angles and perspectives are superb, the scene compositions are flawless, the background score has not one extra beat, the artwork in every frame is mastery - the whole piece is a technical marvel.
The flat that haunts and daunts us in the movie is completely set-up, and the art director Prasanth Madhav deserves a huge round of applause for that! Let's also invite Alby, Ratheesh Raj, Deepak Dev and Sameera Sanish (Cinematography, Editing, Music, and Costumes, respectively) to come forward and acknowledge the cheers! Finally, a word on the writer-director Jean Paul Lal, popularly known as Lal Junior: Thanks much for the technically-brilliant movie that can be called a TRUE psychological thriller. Though the whole style might have been inspired by various foreign language psycho thrillers, unless there is blatant plagiarism, you as a movie-maker rock! The shot that showed Elizabeth (Lena) with the deceased infant, and the one that had Tina (Miya) switching to Elizabeth (Lena) in Tony's perspective - they were fabulous.
How can we go any further without saying Hi to Tony! Hi Tony (Lal), it was a pleasure and privilege watching you perform on the silver screen. The best and the worst part of any psycho thriller is the character that plays the psychopath. No one else could have lived that character like you, Lal. Tony's every single vibe was unmistakably picked up by the discerning spectator. The frenzy of Tony's rage and madness was convincingly conveyed by your acting and superb dubbing skills. Your deep voice, along with the compelling graphics was an excellent way to open the movie.
It would be injustice if Asif Ali is left out in the applause phase. Asif was at his best today. The character of Sameer was anything but simple, with his vulnerability and innocence, later to be challenged to extreme by horror, death, torture, and numbing helplessness. With the camera harassingly doing close-up and always hovering around, slips could have been easily noticed, but there wasn't any! Dubbing that is sometimes Asif's weak point, worked commendably well today. Mia, Lena, Biju Menon - every artist has been an asset to the project.
Coming to the very few shortcomings: the movie could have been shorter by about 15 to 20 minutes. Psychological thrillers are usually shorter because of their energy-draining nature. Interval was another hindrance to the movie's smooth flow, which could not have been avoided in the existing scheme of rules. There's an ongoing effort to screen shorter movies without any interval, in Kerala, and movies like this would benefit from such changes.
While Cinema is of course a medium for entertainment, it's also a chance to vicariously experience stuffs that cannot be a part of our lives. Various genres of movies is exactly that. This is an excellent opportunity for those who can digest psycho thrillers.
Hi I'm Tony is a wonderful cinematic experience in the Psychological Thriller genre that comes once in a blue moon. In the plethora of cheap comedies and action flicks, it is a relief to movie buffs who like such genres!
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