In a right follow up of his very intimate styles introduced in his debut film ‘Annayum Rasoolum’ is Rajeev Ravi’s new movie ‘Njan Steve Lopez’. With a similar sort of storylines and inviting sequences is the movie , which talks about innocence and perseverance in tricky level.With a varied pace, treatment, and the overall mode of narrating the story coupled with the climax , 'Njan Steve Lopez' comes up as one movie that may satisfy the quench for different takes in Mollywood.
Here debutante Farhan Fazil comes up as Steve Lopez, a college student and son of a top police officer. His life revolves around his friends, boozing, social networking sites and a girl Anjali, whom he meets and falls for from his neighbourhood. An effectively original portrayal of slightly sluggish youngsters who fails to open up even to his lady love, but to bizarre, questioning situations, Steve’s life takes a turn as he witness an incident from closer proportions in the street while he is waiting for Anjali.. Steve becomes the only witness to the murder that happens for which he is ready to testify before law. His father (Alencier) tries to guide him away from standing adamant as the witness but Steve seems to be looking for more honest answers. The clichés in the movie from here on are almost nil and the violence limited, which but disturbs every viewer with its emotional intensity.
The basic tale replicates the familiar realm of common man caught in uncommon web of disturbing circumstances. The backdrop of Thriuvanathapuram is effectively used with its limited slangs and cultural nuances. Rajeev Ravi, ably assisted by Geethu Mohandas and Santosh Echikanam in his script, adeptly deploys realistic situations for his actors to put together a tale that shocks,and surprises with needed emotions. The screen writers also effectively put away the typical protagonist -antagonist look and take chances for a role reversal which works wonders for the movie. The dialogues are realistic and the most natural reproduction of trivandrum lingo' works as a strong foundation for the style of the movie.
Farhaan comes up in a promising debut and shows that he is here to stay, though may be not in the lead, every time. Like his star brother Fahad,Farhan also has expressive eyes, short, quick subtle stares that works for his character. Ahana doesn’t have much to announce her arrival but is ok in her role that is hardly author supported. Alencier and Sujith Shankar also comes up with a superb show.
In the downside, the movie follows a slow pacing through out and tend to lag at times, particularly in the latter half, if you compare it with the yardsticks of any other commercial flicks. With no specific intentions to entertain the masses, Rajeev Ravi seems to have stuck to his personal style of understated making, much away from the conventional format with no compromises for commercial gains. The technical sides are good with Pappu's realistic frames and Nagraj's artwork making the capital city another talking character all through. Few of the songs by Shahbaz Aman has come out well while the others remain average.
'Njan Steve Lopez' is another film that will satisfy all who got mesmerised with the realistic-commercial outing of 'Annayum Rasoolum'. And for all others who didn't like it for every reasons, this also won’t . With plenty of brilliant thoughts in display, the movie is sure to be of great value for lovers of experimental cinema.
Rating-6.7/10
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