Villain Malayalam Movie
B Unnikrishnan's Villain is an anachronistic film that more than shares its genes with his own works of the past (read: IG, Grandmaster).
Belonging to the old-fashioned investigative thriller genre, Villain is another star vehicle you can watch in your sleep. The director leaves nothing to the audience's imagination. He just wants you to sit back and enjoy the drama on screen. But is it worth enjoying if the audience is always a few steps ahead of the story?
Villain exposes one irregularity which could be potentially blasphemous to acknowledge, thanks to fandom. It is that Mohanlal and Manju Warrier are way past the insane chemistry they once shared. It is stressful to see the arguable "King" and "Queen" of Malayalam cinema pull a lifeless version of a loving married couple. The writing and direction also have a say in how poorly their relationship is expressed before us. But, note that in the same film, Mohanlal and Manju Warrier can suddenly turn into acting champions when they have to act out very primal and universal emotions. Sadly, such scenes don't come too often in a film that is too busy mimicking the crime movies of Hollywood and the like, especially in its unnecessarily English-heavy, theatrical dialogues.
Tami
Villain maybe a film for the masses but taking the sensibilities of its audience for granted is unacceptable. Its message on morality hits the right note but at the cost of skillful storytelling.
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