Style Over Substance
Gun-wielding family in a single frame is a rare affair in Malayalam Cinema until Aashiq Abu disrupts this 'taboo' through his latest directorial venture. A new premise with a novel concept, rather a daring one! 'Rifle Club' does not glorify violence and the family members resort to retaliation in the face of an emergency. Hailing from an ancestral family that has a long tradition with guns, they are adept in handling rifles and guns. Aashiq Abu neatly assembles his actors to perform in a bizarre milieu and they respond effectively within the paucity of plot essence. Indeed, there are glimpses of sarcasm and satire in the proceedings while scanning through the one-liners by characters. However, the excitement is short-lived as far as the story is concerned after giving a tantalizing take-off.
Set in 1991, 'Rifle Club' opens with the altercation between dancer Ali (Ramzan Muhammed) and the son of Dayanad (Anurag Kashyap), a gun dealer-cum-gangster, in Mangalore. Ali interferes when the gangster's son misbehaves with his co-dancer, played by Navani Devanand. Meanwhile, in Kannur, film actor Shajahan (Vineeth Kumar) struggles to shed his romantic hero image by signing his first action film. Prodded by his well-wishers, Shajahan, who is a wannabe action hero, goes to Wayanad to get trained in wielding guns. In this barely two-hour film, the gun-toting family members of the Rifle Club fearlessly gear up to protect their family, headed by Kuzhuveli Lonappan (Vijayaraghavan) when a gangster unleashes gun attack on them.
A clutch of actors take centre stage in this action movie that elevates Avaran, essayed by Dileesh Pothan, to the protagonist's platform. As a self-proclaimed sharp shooter and hunter, Avaran leads from the front confidently and he occasionally faces sharp and ridiculous words from his brother-in-law, played by Vishnu Agasthya. The Western Ghat premise and detailed nuances regarding guns ramp up the theme neatly. The feisty women in the family include Avaran's wife Sisily (Unnimaya), Susan (Surabhi Lakshmi), Treesa (Darshana Rajendran) and Itty (Vani Viswanath). Their temerity in handling weapons gives a distinct dimension to the movie. Still, they have hardly anything to perform in the subsided content stemming from a simple concept.
Screenwriters Shyam Pushkaran, Dileesh Karunakaran and Suhas are able to scatter witty one-liners with sarcasm occasionally. But those dialogues seldom compensate for the lack of a worthy substance in 'Rifle Club'. The ruckus created by Dayanand's son Bheera (Hanumankind) gives the conflict a real elevation and Hanumankind's portrayal of the character is worthy enough to be admired as it grabs maximum detest. In the climax, the riposte between Avaran and Dayanand amid the pandemonium makes the conflict lighter, transforming the whole events into a frivolous episode.
In his maiden appearance in Malayalam, Hindi filmmaker Anurag Kashyap appears as Dayanand and the actor could send shockwaves with his screen presence. But the character's depth and strength go debilitated towards the end. Dileesh Pothan is consistent throughout with an effortless outing. Despite having brief scenes, Dr Lasar (Suresh Krishna), who laments that he is in the club but not in the family after his divorce, is a riveting character. Vishnu Agasthya gets a vital role that he has leveraged effectively. The buildup being given to the characters of Vani, Darshana and Surabhi fails to align with their confined screen space.
References to hunting of wild boar and the vault in the house loaded with traditional arms turn out to be real supplements for the film to stay afloat in the absence of a solid substance. Aashiq Abu, who also handles cinematography of the movie, handsomely exploits the curious premise arising from the appealing settings even as the simple plot flounders after exuding its potential prior to the 'gunfire-triggered commotion.' The flick brags of copious energy and vitality in its non-stop gunfire action that rules the roost in the absence of a solid screenplay. Here, the substance is overshadowed by the barrage of gunfire.
