Vetta Malayalam Movie
The course of the plot puzzle in Rajesh Pillai's 'Vetta' is akin to that of a kite that flies high and low and which twists round and about and all over, until it winds all over itself in intricate knots, and drops down lifeless, unable to take to the winds anymore. Leaving about a lot of unanswered queries in its wake, 'Vettah' is a confounding exercise, despite having the best of intent in mind.
Sreebala IPS (Manju Warrier) and her colleague and close friend Zylex (Indrajith) are baffled by Melvin Philip (Kunchacko Boban) who admits to having committed a double murder. Melvin however asserts that he is unable to remember where he had buried the corpses, much to the chagrin of the cops.
The basic idea that runs through the film - that of the hunt and the hunted and of the roles that get reversed in the course of time - is one that did have the potential to evolve into an edge of the seat thriller. It's surprising hence, that 'Vettah' exploits none of the said possibilities and instead chooses to trudge up a long winding road to ennui.
It's an elaborate plot that writer Arunlal Ramachandran sets up for the film, and one that is ridden with several loopholes as well. The criss-crosses that are drawn across the narrative do establish plausible connections between the lead characters, but fail to articulate them persuasively and compellingly.
It is this lack of engagement that makes 'Vettah' a jaded fare, that critically falls short on the thriller moments that are a prerequisite for a film as this to work. The weariness that is so evident in the former hour and the numerous baffling scenes that take up quite a lot of its running time do not add much to the dynamics of the film.
The plot machinations in the script are quite detailed, but the antagonists, their actions and the realms that they occupy appear quite farfetched from real situations. Granting fictional liberty, questions should perhaps be not asked, but it remains it's not that easy to add things up into a coherent whole.
The best moments in 'Vetta' arrive towards its final moments, when Melvin unravels the very last bits of his productively executed master plan. 'Vetta' thus winds up on an almost positive note, though the languor that hangs on in the air is one that certainly does not befit an ideal psychological thriller.
Manju Warrier looks agile and perfectly cast as the woman police officer, while Indrajith plays the confused police officer to perfection. Kunchacko Boban has the meatiest role at hand, and he lives up to the expectations. Sandhya and Vijyaraghavan appear in supporting roles.
Despite some crisp editing by Abhilash Balachandran, and a very modest running of one hundred and twelve minutes, 'Vettah' does have the random hold-ups here and there. Anishlal comes up with impressive frames, while Shaan Rahman almost blows it up with a tremendously thunderous background score.
Sometimes the most interesting of thoughts do not make the most fascinating films. 'Vettah' is thus an appealing design lost somewhere along the way it was crafted into a film, and never quite captures the intensity that it had originally set out to scale.