Queen Malayalam Movie
My very first response to "Queen": Here is a campus film that treats women in a dignified manner. The character Chinnu, portrayed by Saniya Iyyappan, echoes the dreams and aspirations of her peers. In one of the scenes, she walks freely on the road during midnight along with her male friends. The subsequent reaction by two passers-by reflects the perspectives of many as we experience in real life.
The undertone of the plot shows its resemblance to Hindi film "Pink," which dealt with issues of women. The relation between Chinnu and her male friends in the Mechanical stream of an engineering college buttresses the harmony among students. Significantly, there is no gory violence on the campus and the impact of Chinnu is visible in the demeanours of people around her.
Debutant Dijo Jose Antony rejigs the familiar formula by devoting his creative space to a social issue being faced by women. Dijo deftly shuns the ingredients like romance, boozing and revenge in the story, and the tout screenplay by Sharis Mohammed and Jebin Joseph Antony embellishes the action.
Despite the frivolous scenes in the beginning, the film attains its pace and gravity in the latter half, especially with the appearance of lawyer Mukundan (Salim Kumar) in the court for the innocent youngsters.
Dhruvan Druv as Balu and other friends, enacted by newcomers Eldho, Arun and Ashwin, have given a remarkable performance. Saniya is bubbly and she perfectly emotes the touching condition of the character. Editor Sagar Dass deserves special mention for his brilliant trimming that lends plenty of support to the narration.
It's a good attempt by the director, who wants to shy away from the trite equations of our movies set on campus. He never uses the word 'rape' in the film or showcases teenagers as mere easy-going ilk. Instead, he portrays them as socially-committed individuals with a sense of responsibility.
Though director maintains a kind of ambivalence towards the climax, the best thing about Dijo is that he is not carried away by the structure of some of the meaningless campus stories in recent times.