Bicycle Thieves Review

The new generation filmmakers has done away with the art of presenting any story in linear narratives. And so,in its extreme nonlinear format of story telling is debutant director Jis Joy's Bicycle Thieves. Planned as a thriller, with a twist comingup in every ten minutes, the movie offers an onetime watch for all those who love thrillers that is told as a jigsaw-puzzle.

The movie has Asif Ali as Chackochan  who lost his parents early , and  into a  miserable childhood. He is forced to flee on a stolen bicycle and bumps into a bicycle thief (Salim Kumar) and  his two young lads. (Saiju Kurup and Bineesh Kodiyeri).  While attempting a biggest heist of prowling a businessman  (saikumar) which fails , the team splits up and Chacko repositions into another city., where he continues his acts in a bigger scale with success.

Without realising his shady acts, one bank employee Meera ( Aparna Gopinath)  falls for Chackochan, which changes his life from isolation . He starts to make important resolutions in his life and takes up the job of a car driver, making the narrative to move on another direction.

The movie has an interesting screenplay, but it takes almost an hour to introduce the characters, who has definite roles to play as it progreses. The unwanted details but kills the interest at some portions of the movie, whose bits and pieces are finely grouped up in the end. The final twenty minutes is a twist galore, which may interest the die hard fns of the genre, while others sits in total bewilderment. Though it appear that the world around Chackochan is certainly too small with the characters of his early life bumping into him in a regular manner, the debutante director Jis Joy has been able to pack the screenplay and its bigger characters in a decent way, without letting out too much of its suspense. Binendra Menon's visuals and Deepak Dev's music support the director's endeavour to keep up the pace and the interest in the proceedings.

But at nearly two hours and thirty minutes, the film looks a little long with a need of trimming, Asif Ali looks convincing in the lead and Aparna Gopinath is good and extend the charm  that she has displayed in her debut film.  Vijay Babu, as Kashy the drunken lawyer steals the show from others in the cast who are adequate in their roles..

Though this Bicycle Thieves has no connection with the classic film of yore with the same title, it will not bore you. A fine option for all those who love the genre.

Rating - 6.4/10