Father's Day Review

Scriptwriter turned director Kalavoor Ravikumar had earlier prepared himself to meet the big commercial viewers, by creating a children's film that fetched him much accolades. But with his debut movie for the mainstream audiences, Father's Day, he must have realised that satisfying the myriad tones and tastes of the larger group is not that easy as with a children film. With a story line that you often don't find in Mollywood, it is the making that remains an old fashioned endeavour now limiting its prospects strictly to suit the likes of family audiences.

The movie has Revathy as Seetha lekshmy, a college lecturer with a disturbing past, remaining single and living in a palatial bungalow with his niece (Indhu Thampi) and a caring brother Gopan (Vineeth ,who is  an architect. The narratives gathers momentum when a youth Joseph K Joseph (Shaheen)  an young researcher in criminology appears from nowhere and starts following the lecturer, digging out a traumatic past  . Kept without much dialogue for the first hour, we are made aware that this is a guy in search of a parentage. And thereafter, the unpredictable elements gets sour as the characters starts moaning, weeping and wailing to add colour to the heavy melodrama and ranting BG scores.

The movie's story line is that simple to have made a short film effectively, but as things go on without a definite end, interest on it starts to subside. The first half lacks a definite focus and had the makers opted for a different structure and presentation, 'Father's day' could have made big sense for the movie regulars.

In the performance side, Revathy is the soul of the film and does her best to salvage a plot and character. Many of her sequences is meticulously acted out, including that with his screen brother Vineeth which are indeed filled with plenty of warmth. Oscar winner Resul Pookkutty's presence is limited to a cameo in a single scene.  Lal appears as an old college mate of Seethalakshmi, who is there with a marriage proposal. The director in Ravikumar is unable to bring out the rightest act from the newcomers in the pivotal roles, which could have made much difference to the movie if handled by seasoned performers.  Shaheen who shows promise in the initial reels fails to impress when he is demanded to spell out emotional dialogues. Indu Thampi is dressed loudly, but she couldn't do full justice to her debut role.

The visuals by S G Raman and the music by M G Sreekumar suit the standards of the movie.

Father's Day, in not a regular plot, is meant for those who like a little difference in a regular pattern of a tearjerker. Had the movie been presented in a more refreshing format and had it resisted the temptation to go over the lives of the victimised protagonist and to look for the child borne out of the act, it would have been an exceptional attempt.

Rating- 4.25/10