Malayalis could not have asked for a better Christmas gift. Masterpiece lives up to Mammootty’s larger-than-life image of a megastar. The mass action entertainer starts out as a campus movie and develops into an all-out action thriller.
The movie opens to a vicious gang war in a college campus, where teachers are forced to remain mute spectators. The violence get out of the hand when the strife culminates in a murder followed by a suicide. A police investigation follows, ably assisted by some of the teachers, until Edward Livingstone gets in their way. The professor would not let the police inside the campus!
Mammootty’s 'Eddie' is roguish enough to attain stardom inside the violent campus. Director Ajai Vasudevan takes his time on the campus before he lets loose the maverick professor. Mammootty’s entry is truly mass.
The first half of the movie is a suspenseful run-up to the dramatic events that follow. Uday Krishna’s script is so deft that it points fingers to several characters and keeps the audience on tenterhooks. Yet the movie is devoid of any artificial dialogues. Krishna still manages to poke the journalists and policemen who grope in the dark after a crime has been committed.
Curiously, the movie is peppered with dialogues that sound like retorts to the recent controversies that roil social media in Kerala though the movie was completed before the flareup. The audience cannot be blamed for thinking that Mammootty’s character was responding to the allegation against the actor for being part of a 'misogynist' movie.
The suspense and twists apart, the script leaves behind some unanswered questions. The writer of Pulimurugan needs no lessons in treating a superstar vehicle. Audience go crazy when Mammootty delivers Krishna’s dialogues with his characteristic verve. Masterpiece has no dearth of mass dialogues.
Vasudevan, who made his directorial debut with Rajadhiraja, has stretched his limits in action sequences in Masterpiece. Mammootty fans could not have asked for more action. Deepak Dev provides a musical relief with his memorable scores. The lively background music matches the tempo of the movie.
Vinod Illampally’s camerawork presents a colorful feel to the movie. Energetic score, fast frames and peerless action choreography make the movie a roller coaster ride. John Kutty mixes all these elements in his editing table.
However, the team could have done away with an unnecessary flaw in a crucial action moment.
Unni Mukundan shined in the role of a police officer. Varalakshmi Sarath Kumar made the leading lady memorable in her second outing with Mammootty after Kasaba.
The audience were also met with a different Santosh Pandit, who has made a name for himself as an eccentric actor. The movie also features Gokul Suresh, Maqbool Salmaan, Pashanam Shaji, Bijukkuttan, Kalabhavan Shajon, Kailash, Nandu, Mukesh, Sivaji Guruvayur, Poonam Bajwa, John Kaipalli, Sunil Sukhada, Anjali Nair, Mahima Nambiar and Divya Pillai.
Rating: 3.5 / 5