“Bangalore! what a rocking city” says Arjun aka Aju (Dulquer Salman) to his cousins—wide eyed wonder Divya (Nazriya Nazim) and the not-so-taken-in-by-it Kuttan (Nivin Pauly). Three minds and one city. Bangalore becomes the place where they live, love, fight it out. And finally, predictability sets in. But it's still a wonderful journey, and it's fun to get a look into their lives from the vantage point.
Arjun is the slightly rebellious (read spray-painting graffiti on public walls), off-the-grid boy with a golden heart and smile to kill. He is a bike/car enthusiast who quit school early on. He does odd jobs, mostly those that involve bikes. Divya is the impulsive, smart and chirpy child-woman who gets married to Das (Fahad Fazil) primarily because an astrologer rolled his eyes and scared her superstitious parents and also because she'd get to be in Bangalore with her cousins. Kuttan, the introvert software engineer with an 'ayyada' in every sentence and an attitude bent on preserving the 'malayali samskaram', finds the metro quite over the top.
The story revolves along their lives and intricately links it with one another. Director Anjali Menon builds up a quaint world that stirs up nostalgia. This time around, she has flavoured it with spices from 'Namma Bengaluru'. It's interesting to see attitude shifts and perspective changes in the characters when they face up to the real world. The movie pans on many bonds that get formed, some that you name and others that you're hesitant to name. It shows that you can love someone at the blink of an eye and it's fine even if doesn't last. Maybe the ones that last take time. Maybe not.
On the star-studded casting, Dulquer as Aju fits the bill. His rules-are-to-be-questioned stance isn't vehement; it's mellow and thought-provoking. The relationship he shares with Sarah (Parvathy Menon) could have been more beautiful, if it had more time and details to it. Nazriya keeps her bar up, with quips and quirks, and a certain credibility to her character. Nivin Pauly doesn't miss this one at all! His proper-boy act is top notch, and he makes for more laughter. Fahad, as the distant husband has his moments too even though he has limited words to share.
Bangalore looks beautiful on Sammer Thahir's canvas (Cinematography); the racing and wheeling stunts look great. Gopi Sundar's music and background score lingers.
Humour is worked up well in the movie and the lead actors share an excellent chemistry. And that's the biggest plus of the movie. Even though the storyline doesn't have a lot to it, it's the novelty in each frame that's going to grab eyeballs. Is it beyond average Malayali sensibilities to see a bride accidentally swirl out some nicotine air from the cigarette she had taken a puff out of? Don't know, but the scene was precious in terms of how fresh the idea was and how rarely you get to see something like that!
Anjali Menon's script is as good as it can get. When Nivin Pauly says, “True love is like Santa Claus. Everybody says he's there, but have you seen him?”, she scores high! It's a long movie, and the more the number of people, the more the complexities. But the plot transcends these difficulties and straddles on a strong script, moving swiftly from one frame to another.
Yes, it was a little predictable, but all's well that ends well, isn't it?
3.75/5