A not so anticipated film with very less promotion, with no high profile stars except Lal, and a director who hasn't made an impact with his debut film..'10.30 am Local call' doesn't have much to invite you while you walk into the theatres. But as you are out of the screens the movie remains as a decent watch that will require a strong word of mouth to leave a mark. A thrilling revenge tale that definitely leads you to suspenseful moments, the movie is largely gratifying with a novel story which is the order of the day, which the director Manu Sudhakar has narrated in a different way.
'10.30 am Local Call' opens with Alby (Nishan), a manager in an automobile firm, who is having a busy run away from something that horrifies him. Happily married to a radio jockey Ann (Mridula Murali), Alby has just been selected as the best employer of the year. He has as his long term friends Sub Inspector Roy Thomas (Krishna), political leader Jaishankar (Anoop Chandran) and businessman Vasudevan Namboothiri alias Vasu (Manuraj). But one fine day he bumps into his old flame at College Nimmy (Sritha Sivadas), who had surprisingly left him without a trace on their last day at college. He drops her number but gets a unexpected call within few days for help. She is now deserted by her husband Vishnu(Kailash) who suspects her for illegal relationships and is waiting at a bus stop at late night. Alby tries to help her by taking her to her friends' house. But as she finds the house locked, he is forced to take her to a nearby home stay. Alby and Nimmy share the room, but the very next day he is horrified to see Nimmy lying dead in the bath room. He flees the scene and doesn't revel this to anyone. What follows is the attempts of Alby to make his life safer, away from dangers of recognition as a killer, all of which stands worthless with the arrival of a local call from a private number at 10 30 am in the next morning.
`10 30 am Local call' has a gripping premise on hand and is largely engaging for its plot by Arunlal with a few absorbing, attention grabbing moments which take liberal inspirations from film like `Pachakili Muthucharam' to `Cocktail' .The execution of the written material is mostly fine though the college sequences could have been dealt with more convincingly and some poor casting especially of Anoop Chandran and Madhuraj could have been avoided.. The strong narrative maintains focus, without diversifying into unwanted subplots as happens unless it's significant to the main plot. This local call offers ample twists and turns that catch you completely unaware and makes you think how did this happen.
Though there are some loopholes at some points and a tale that needs to be believed as such for the thriller to survive, if you are not a type who abstains from probing deep into every happening, the movie is sure to be a satisfying suspense thriller. The director is ably supported in visuals by cameraman Krish Kaimal who qualifies in creating fine sequences all through. So is Don Max in editing and Gopi sundar with his songs and BG scores. In fact the song by "Etho Sayahna' is quite infectious while Gopi's BG scores give definite impact to enhance its suspense and thrills.
The hard work and expertise of the little known director, Manu sudhakar are echoed by the entire star cast. Nishan, the boy-next-door is super-confident this time and believable too. Mridula Murali is natural to the core and could be one name to look forward to in the future. Shritha Sivadas in her second role after her debut hit `Ordinary' delivers a power-packed performance and makes much of the superficial sequences believable, proving that there's a lot of talent in her that needs to be tapped . Lal is effective in a brief role while Kailash adds a lot of weight to the proceedings. But the rest of the cast could have been more carefully selected which could have added to the quality of the proceedings. On the whole,' this `10 30 am Local call' has a decent and absorbing narratives and some good performances coupled with a fine technical side, soulful BG and music as its aces.
Rating -6.5/10 |
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