Spirit
Malayalam Movie Review
Producer- Antony
Perumbavoor
Director- Ranjith
Cast- Mohanlal,
Kaniha, Shankar Ramakrishnan, Madhu, Nandu, Kalpana, Thilakan etc.
Music- Shahbaz Aman
Review By : Gooogle
Am I confused? Yes indeed. How I wish I
needn’t do a review or give a verdict. It’s not an easy job. I wish people stop
asking opinions; just see films, like them or dislike them and go back home
carrying the memories, good or bad…
Ranjith’s latest film ‘Spirit’ is a film
that I wouldn’t like to review or give a verdict about. I’d prefer to see it,
think about it, re-visit it if needed and not give out opinions or verdicts. If
you ask me whether I liked the movie or not, my answer would be in the
affirmative. If you ask me whether the film was really that good, captivating
and worth it, I would be a bit confused.
‘Spirit’, I’d say is a good film. It no
doubt is a good film. From a critic’s point of view, there may be flaws. It may
seem less cinematic compared to Ranjith’s other films; there could be an
opinion that he could have given some more time for the script to evolve into a
better one; you’d say that Ranjith, in ‘Spirit’, becomes more of a
preacher/reformer than a director; you may say that there is too much of
boozing and hence a lag; you’d say that given Ranjith’s talent and versatility,
the story and the film could have been better handled…you could find out many
such flaws or minuses. But for me, I’d prefer to dwell on the pluses because
the issue that the film seeks to address is real relevant and it’s a film that
should be promoted, in many respects.
‘Spirit’ tells the story of Raghunandan
(Mohanlal), who had been working in a bank abroad earlier and who has been
donning many roles- that of a journalist, that of a television anchor and that
of a writer. He is divorced from his wife Meera (Kaniha), who is now happily
married to Alexy (Shankar Ramakrishnan). Raghu has a son, who lives with Meera
and Alexy and Raghu has Meera and Alexy as his close friends. Raghu also hosts
a very popular television chat show ‘Show the Spirit’ and just blasts whoever
comes before him, with his power of argument and the evidences that he always
manage to get through extensive research. But the other side of it all is that
he is terribly addicted to booze and can’t live without it. He just gobbles
bottle after bottle of the most expensive of brands. As Meera openly says,
Raghu is a bad father while Alexy proves a good father to Raghu’s son; he is
also inconsiderate at times, though he is an efficient guy. Anyway, things are
not destined to go on like that; there has to be a change. That change starts
taking place in Raghu’s life and then on, he starts observing Maniyan (Nandu),
a plumber whom he is forced to follow.
Well, that’s what forms the plot. The film
gains relevance as it discusses, in as realistic a manner as possible and at
the same time remaining within the structure of popular cinema, a menace that
has gripped the Kerala society in recent times. There are instances where you
may feel that you are not watching a Ranjith film, but do we need to be so
prejudiced? I feel that this is a well-intentioned film and hence we got to
watch it. And given that it’s a subject that may not seem appealing, it demands
great skill packaging it in a way that it appeals to all. Ranjith has done it
excellently well. Thanks Ranjith for making this film.
Performance
Mohanlal comes off with a clean
performance; he is good as Raghunandan. Nandu simply excels as Maniyan, this
character would do great to his career. Shankar Ramakrishnan,
director-turned-actor makes an impressive acting debut while Kaniha too is
good. Thilakan doesn’t have much to do, but he is good. Tiny Tom impresses.
Lena seems to be going great these days, she does a good job as Supriya
Raghavan IPS while Siddharth and Kalpana too do justice to their roles.
Technical aspects
As usual, Ranjith has come up with a film
that has some good technicians teaming up. The film is well-made, thanks to the
support by the technical team.
Music
Music by Shahbaz Aman is good; the songs
have an appeal, but don’t expect something like “Ee
puzhayum…”.
Script
The way Ranjith has woven the whole thing
around the issue that he wanted to discuss is what wins our appreciation. He
deserves to be appreciated for brilliant characterisation as well.
Direction
Good work. I won’t endeavour to compare
‘Spirit’ with the recent other films of Ranjith, I would want to rate it
separate and so I’d say, well done, Ranjith.
Verdict:
Well-intentioned, good work. Must watch!!
Rating: 3/5
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