'Monster', dubbed from a Malayalam movie of the same name, is currently streaming on Disney Plus Hotstar. In this section, we are going to review the crime thriller.
Story:
The story is set in Cochi. Bhamini and Anil Chandra are up to celebrate their first wedding anniversary. Bhamini, who works for a taxi company, is tasked with receiving Lucky Singh (Mohanlal) at the airport. Lucky Singh, claiming to be a businessman with many achievements in Punjab, befriends Bhamini and goes to the flat where she lives with her husband and their child. In a shocking turn of events, Lucky Singh turns out to be a threat to their peace.
Analysis:
Crime thrillers usually take too many creative liberties. Just that they do it smartly. The recent 'HIT 2' is a case in point. Even though there is no riddle that Adivi Sesh's character is solving, everything is made to look complex. At the other end of the spectrum of too-clever-by-half films like Naveen Chandra's 'Repeat'. They call themselves thrillers. If not for their attempt to place misleading plot points, they wouldn't be taken even half-seriously.
Director Vyshak works on a story written by Udaykrishna. 'Monster' would have been way less intolerable had the first half not been staged in a prosaic manner. Even at just 130 minutes, the film struggles to establish itself for more than an hour. The first hour is plotless and vacuous; if you are someone who is too busy to indulge the film, you could just read the plot of 'Monster' on Wikipedia and jump headlong into the second half directly.
Mohanlal plays a suspenseful character whose comedy is failed by weak writing. As it is, Mollywood films suffer from outright basic comedy (exceptions like 'Jaya Jaya Jaya Hey' are few and far between). It's not like Tollywood films have had a great time engaging the audience with comedy, but we at least have had occasional comical films. 'Monster' doesn't try to be a comedy of any sort. But the light moments should have been way better. The songs are a terrible distraction. One wonders why the OTT versions can't be tighter. In recent times, films like 'Brahmastra' have had crispy OTT versions.
The film's screenplay has been written to keep the audience guessing but not with the intention of making them think. The guessing game turns out to be a shooting-in-the-dark sport. There was a time when it was deemed the right thing to do. Those thrillers were called intelligent. In today's times, the audience expect the director to give clues and yet engage.
Honey Rose, as Bhamini, delivers an understated act. Sudev Nair, as Anil Chandra, is forgettable. Lakshmi Manchu, who plays a nanny named Durga, has got a character with a certain arc.
As for Mohanlal, expectations from him were high after the 'Drishyam' franchise. Probably, 'Monster' also suffers from this burden.
Verdict:
'Monster' fails to enthuse despite its suspenseful screenplay. The first hour is languid. The second half could have been way better.
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