Annayum Rasoolum Review

Not many films in the history of Mollywood have dealt with the subject of love with this much passion and intensity. With hardly any verbal overtones to put across the emotions, Rajeev Ravi's "Annayum Rasoolum' is a movie that need to be watched with tolerance and real attention, to savor that rare cinematic experience. Annyum Rassolum'  isn't one of those films that merely entertains, but also enlightens. Boasting of a story that instantly strikes a chord, the movie has been treated with such sensitivity and maturity with no space for a candy floss romance.With a fine screenplay that believes more on the power of visuals, and exemplary performance from its lead players and its technical crew, this debut offer from Rajeev is the fine way to kick start a meaningful filmy year.

The movie has Fahad Faasil as Resul,  a taxi driver, who lives in a modest area in Kochi. And when he meets Anna (Andrea Jeremiah)a sales girl working in a popular apparel shop, Rasul falls head over heels for her, always following her on the ways and on the boat on which she travels regularly to her work place. But as with every case of every first love, they find it difficult to express their feelings for each other as they are all from dysfunctional families and situations. And when they later find ways to tide over their hesistancies  and  personal  insecurities of religion and society, stimulating the lost romance in relationships,  Rasul get embroiled in roguish acts of his friends, on which he has little clues for. The movie is told through the narration of Ashley(Suny Wayane), one of the friends of Rasul. The movie has a perfect backdrop of Fort Kochi and near by areas, with so much realistic settings that other film makers may envy upon .

`Annayum Rasoolum' heralds the birth of a topnotch storyteller in Rajeev Ravi. He has perfected the screenplay by Santosh Echikkanam with his mastery of visuals making it a far cry from the mundane stuff. Madhu Neelakantan has really worked overtime to help Rajeev execute it with this panache, to have it heart at the right place with a mesmeric visuals of Kochy.  The camera captures every minute detail, every emotion, and every tear with precision.Note that in majority of the intense emotional sequences, the film maker hardly takes the aid of dialogues, often muting the entire audio, even without the support of any effects, yet remaining marvelously effective. Indeed, a real tribute to the power of visuals by a cinematographer turned director.

Yesteryear singer Mehboob's songs like `Kayalinakkare' and Kandu randu' have been intelligently used by the music director `K' in the film which makes it a nostalgic trail . His other tracks and BG scores are also first rate.

The lone aspect that weighs this 160 minute long film downward is the fact that the narrative totters in the middle of the second hour , when the story doesn't really move frontward which make some feel  restless. In fact, the narrative could've been crisper, with the editor using the scissors judiciously in this hour for a better impact at the theatre cash windows. Rajeev Ravi couldn't have cast any better actors here than what he is blessed with in `Annayum Rasoolum'. And it is high time it turn cliched while you write about the finesse of the actor Fahad Faasil while dealing with subtle roles. Once again, his is a performance that makes the best of performances pale in comparison, flawless and astounding. He seems to have ran that extra length, which may bag him brownie points in the year's ceremonies, and immense fans , ofcourse. Andrea Jeremiah with a stoic look gels perfectly to her mysterious character and is a delight to watch with awesome support from the director who used the best shots of her eyes to tell a lot of emotions that were never discussed explicitly.

Watch out for the delightful performers in Shrinda Ashad and Shine Thomas Chako as the onscreen couple Fazila and Abdhu. One of the most natural actor of the new generation, Sunny Wayne' also impresses with his natural, easy on the eyes performance and narration. Also have a heartwarming performances of  Aashiq Abu, Renjith , P Balachandran,  Joy Mathew, and Soubin Shahher who lends right shades to their characters.

On the whole, `Annayum rasoolum' resets the standard rules of this genre. Besides, the film makes you cognizant that serious cinema can be uniformly delightful, like any other action-packed entertainer. Recommended! On the whole, this eternal love story is more for the discerning viewer of Mollywood.

Rating-7/10