Friday Review

A worthy addition to the list of new generation movies is ` Friday' the debut venture from Lijin Jose'.  Leaving the viewers stunned, `Friday' with sheer power of its simple  story,  execution and performances sweep you off your feet. A convincing slice of life film that effectively brings together seemingly unrelated, contrasting segments of life from the `Venice of the east', this `Friday' is a definite prescription for all lovers of quality movies.

The  movie has the multiple happenings in a rare day ,quite special for its repetition of 11( 11-11-11). Different men and women, aged and young, as usual come to the city of Alappuzha from far and wide to meet their personal wishes and duties. Here we have the crew of a transport boat trying to clear off the mechanical problems before night for their last trip of this fateful day, a  child-less couple planning an adoption from a city orphanage, a young auto-driver who is exhausted dealing with  his poverty striken life, a love smitten girl and boy who tries for a day out from the college campus , a pregnant beggar, a man who is dying to see his first child but is forced to accompany an ailing women to her deathbed  , a group of two who is trying to sell a caged bird for an astronomical price and an old man and his family who are shopping for this grand daughter's impending wedding. As they move along with their intentions and extreme circumstances, there are some points where their lives intertwine, without themselves knowing the plot. The strong narrative maintains focus, where, nothing happens unless it's significant to the main plot. Besides, there are ample twists and turns that catch you completely unaware, but there are times when you wonder about the coincidences.

Debutante director  Lijin Jose  has had the guts to do something unusual within commercial parameters and the effort needs to be lauded for providing a novel experience. Lijin shows confidence in his craft by realising a complicated plot with care and finesse.  Najeem Koya's script is also sprinkled with characters that have a charm of humanness. Moved by life-like episodes of love, lust, and remorse', rage and driven by the inescapability from the life's travails, `Friday' is largely engaging for its plot and also the execution of the written material.

Fahd Fazil, as usual conveys much through his eyes and  excels yet again in a down to earth role. Nedumudi Venu is adequate. While Manu and Ann looks the characters and are  effective, there are a number of characters in the film and each of them is natural.

Jomon Thomas's  stunning visuals captures the life of Alappuzha with that immaculate sincerity .  The underwater and high angle shots add to the layered mood of the movie. Editor Manoj has also taken great pains to limit the multiple stories to around 100 minutes running time, without any missing links. The soundtrack is okay, with 'the lullaby song' being the pick of the lot, but it is the BG scores by Rex Vijayan that impresses you more.
 
`Friday' is a kind of film that is beyond box-office . The film may not set the box-office afire for its leisued unfolding of subject material, but would definitely keep its investors safe, due to the fact that it has the merits to keep you hooked.
                    
On the whole, FRIDAY is an outstanding piece of work. One of the finest products to come out of Mollywood recently, this one is sure to offer you an engaging watch. For all connoisseurs of meaningful cinema, it's your time to watch FRIDAY.
 
Rating - 7/10