Charminar Malayalam Movie
Writer-director Ajith. C. Lokesh embraces the cut-and-paste approach to create a romantic thriller in "Charminar." The debutant depicts the protagonist as an introvert lover, who has a crush on a model. Lokesh perfectly fulfils his onus of the surprise introduction of the antagonist. Then where did it go wrong? Well, primarily, this film has the usual pattern of love, betrayal and revenge. Set in a hotel, the simple tale fails to make advance due to the constraints in the plot, and indeed, the dilemma is not unfamiliar to us.
Aswin Kumar as Sethu is the backbone of the movie and he has given a sublime performance. His vengeance towards those who betrayed him reflects in his mien as well. The film becomes engaging in some parts solely because of his portrayal of the wounded fashion designer in a perfect mode.
The psyche of the character and his transformation are subtly presented by Aswin. But the treatment of his romance with Nanditha (Harshika Poonacha) is trite and it pants for more convincing levels. This defect causes dents in the overall impact of the movie.
Harshika is nowhere near in making out the intensity of her character, giving the feel that she is at ease in posing as a model. Hemanth Menon as Anand, the owner of an advertising agency, does not hesitate to come out of his comfort zone to expose the intention of the character. While revealing the competition in the fashion and ad world, the narration is interspersed between Kochi and Bengaluru.
Meanwhile, viewers seldom get coherent answers to a couple of events in the movie, and it sullies the thriller mood intended by the makers. The production standards are solid enough, including the cinematography of Faizal. V. Khalid. But the script is not devoid of palpable follies that affect the movie to a great extent.
Glimpses of impressive making and occasional flashes of thrilling moments are not enough to elevate this film to the podium of the gripping romantic thriller. The not-so-foolproof script chokes after a stage causing everything to fall like ninepins.