Akashvani Malayalam Movie
This might be a bit surprising to at least a few of our readers, but in case you are wondering if 'Akashavani' has anything to do with the All India Radio, you are badly mistaken. It's a broadcast without doubt, and a nagging one at that, that would stop at nothing until it has wholly played out its vexing tale.
Believe it or not, the film derives its title from the names of its protagonists, Akash (Vijay Babu) and Vani (Kavya Madhavan). The couple has been married for a few years, and their only son has been put up at the boarding school, owing to their respective busy professional schedules. Love has long abandoned their relationship and lives, and Akash and Vani adorn magazine pages as the ideal couple, even as their personal loves remain ruined, seemingly beyond repair.
The film that has a running time of less than two hours spends its initial hour explaining how miserable Akash and Vani truly are. The reason behind the growing distance between them is attributed to an overbearing father-in-law (Lalu Alex), who has a say in pretty much everything under the sun.
Vani is no ordinary woman and runs a media channel, and even holds fiery interviews that invoke the wrath of baddie politicians. And yet, when she recognizes that Akash is about to leave her, she behaves like a kid that has lost its kite, and does the unthinkable. The less said about what she does, the better.
The film nosedives at this point, and never really manages to saunter forward beyond that moment. It's a steady decline thereafter, with Vani launching the woo attack on Akash. Knock knock on the door, and enter thug number one (Saiju Kurup) along with thug number two (Sreejith Ravi), and all hell breaks lose.
For the diligent viewer, the two enticing twists that are gift wrapped for the grand finale would hold little surprise. Perhaps I'm too much of a nitpicker when it comes to tales as these, but unless those shockers are swathed in some real sturdy casing would they appear credible, which is why I have this nagging doubt that half the audience or perhaps more could deduce what was coming up.
I thought Vijay Babu did a neat job in 'Neena', but he seems to have lost his marbles this time around. Being tied up for nearly half the time doesn't much help either. Kavya rolls, squints and blinks those big eyes of hers, but gets only about that far. Saiju Kurup and Sreejith Ravi, Sandra Thomas and Lalu Alex offer more than just support, and gimme Lijo Jose Pellissery (in a cameo) the director any day.
'Akashavani' runs long even with its modest running time, falls flat on emotions and blows its horn way over the top. There is nothing much to be seen in it and plenty to be forgotten.