Trailers. Teasers. And more trailers. More often than not, the onslaught of pre-release buzz of big budget films seems annoying, rather than exciting. When these starry stuff fails to live up to the hype, certain small-budget movies come to the theatres with no hype nor agenda and take you for an unexpected fun-filled ride.
Oru Second Class Yathra by debutants Jeckson Antony and Rejish Antony belongs to that class of movies.
In the funny police-crime drama, Constables Balu (Sreejith Ravi) and Jolly (Joju George) are asked to shift two criminals to the Thiruvananthapuram Central jail. Their journey from Kannur with the criminal duo – Nandu (Vineeth Sreenivasan) and Maran (Chemban Vinod Jose) – in a second class compartment forms the crux of the story.
Maran's innocuous jokes take us on a laughter riot. The squabbles between Balu and Jolly are hilarious too.
The second half is dramatic, yet lagging. The Nedumudy Venu flashback could have been better. However, the climax makes up for the shortfalls. And once again the cop combo and the witty thief take charge of the screen.
While Vineeth plays it safe by avoiding unnecessary emotional outbursts, Vinod carries the movie on his shoulders with Maran's quick humour and wit.
Although the central theme revolves around a woman, the film is an all-man show. Nikki Galrani and Vanitha Krishnachandran, who play Vineeth's sister and mother, respectively, remain as mere spectators and supporting characters.
Balu Varghese and Saju Navodaya add remarkable share of fun to the film. The Antonys may not be seasoned, but they are no greenhorns either -- the exceptionally seamless flow of the narrative bears testimony to this.
However, Vinod Illampilly's cinematography doesn't attempt much, except for some aerial shots. Once again, Gopi Sunder 'scored' well. 'Ambaazham thanalitta' in Vineeth's voice is likely to reverberate in our ears for long.
The author strongly recommends this soothing pill to those who would like to sit back and have a hearty laugh.
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