Passenger;Malayalam movie review

An honest and a thought provoking malayalam commercial(if I may take the liberty in calling so)movie! Well,many people believe that breed to be endangered ,if not an extinct one.While bollywood and kollywood have been daring enough to experiment with newer premises,presentation styles and craftsmen,the so called 'm0llywood' have,by and large,remained stagnant with an unwillingness to think 'out of the box'.Taking a cue from his peers like Neeraj Pandey and Nishikanth Kamath,debutant director Ranjith shankar comes out with a decent movie,showcasing the capricious nature of our lives and the role every duty bound citizen can play in such situations.Though the movie falls well short of being a classic,the timing of its release and the relief it provides from the other run- of -the- mill types, has enabled it to garner a positive response from the easily dissatisfied and 'ever craving' malayalis.

Thomas chacko,an embodiment of the modern day corrupt politician(played by Jagathy Sreekumar) is accused of being part of illegal sand mining in a coastal village, which has adversely affected the livelihood of the coastal community.Nandan menon,an advocate(played by Dileep), and his wife Anuradha,who is a TV reporter(played by Mamta), along with a few dis empowered but politically conscious villagers are determined to expose the collusion of the home minister with the private company in this nefarious act.It so happens that while these people are discussing and demonstrating their novel, but hard to digest,sinister plan of putting an end to the issue,Anuradha, with the help of webcam,somehow manages to capture and record the whole proceedings in her laptop.A hot pursuit ensues.Unaware of these happenings,Nandan meets a commuter named Sathyanathan(played by Sreenivasan) in the Guruvayoour Ernakulam paasenger train.Late in to the night, they reach Guruvayoor and after getting down in the station,Sathyanathan sees Nandan being kidnapped by some local goons.The samaritan in Sathyanathan awakens and what follows in the next 24 hours are a series of events which make an indelible and memorable impression in the lives of those involved in it.

The narrative style,especially in the first half where the movie slowly unravels, and the manner in which, hitherto unknown, individuals get interconnected, forms the highlight of the movie.Scenes which have been shot inside the train,luckily seems to lack artificiality, with the one in which Dileep meets Sreenivasan for the first time,being the pick among the lot.Dileep always seems to be at ease in such scenes.Be it the highly lucrative business of sand mining,the tendency of the media to sensationalise issues like 'high profile' sex scandals, or the preponderance of devotional tv serials during prime time,the movie tries to visualise a microcosm of our society in recent times.But some of these issues needed deft handling and this is exactly where the film lets you down.Scenes like the intrusion of sreenivasan into the media office culminating in his meeting with the channel chairman (played by madhu) as well as those involving the 'kotation team' looks amateurish and eventhough cinematic liberty could be taken as an excuse against sound reasoning, some of the actions of sathyanathan and taxi driver played by Nedumudi Venu can hardly be explained.A tighter script and a more sincere approach in the later half would have made it a real thriller,but that is expecting too much from a person who has had no formal training in film making.

While the main actors have all come up with commendable performances,it is Jagathy who steals the show with his portrayal of the shrewd politician with consummate ease.The technical side could have been better,but that can be expected in a movie which has been made on a shoe string budget.

Destiny creates unsung heroes out of ordinary men and that is exactly the message that the movie 'Passenger' conveys with conviction.The movie may not be as refreshing as a journey in Rajdhani, but the experience is certainly more pleasant than a trip in a passenger train.

Rating:Two and a half /Five