Ordinary Review

In the current years of fresh ideas and directors, it's Sugeeth who is scoring some brownie points with his debut offering `Ordinary', this week. A movie that wisely uses the maximum of the geographical milieu on which it is planted, this ordinary hardly falls off from its tracks at any point of its narratives. A not so `Ordinary' offering from a debutante, it can be lauded for its sincere, unassuming efforts and packaging that is sure to go well with the viewers.

The movie has the camaraderie of the driver Suku and the conductor Eravi of a K S R T C ordinary service plying  between tribal village of Gavi and Pathanamthitta as its central plot  and the scriptwriters, Nishad Koya and Manu Prasad intelligently contribute various incidences of their acclimatization with the silent village life with aplomb. The entire movie doesn't stretch out too much from the envelop of a formula flick, but manages to engage the cine goers with brighter moments and fascinating visuals.

The movie has Kunchakko Boban as Iravi, a chotta political leader of a village, who is forced to take up the job of a conductor that was offered to him as of `dying harnesses' of his late father. On his very first day on service he gets on to a thick friendship with Suku, (Biju Menon) the lovable, bantering driver. Off they go on with their journeys amidst the mist and hairpin curves of the highranges  with the village folk that includes a big group ranging from the drunkard Wakkachan (Baburaj), Panchayath member Venu mash(Lalu Alex),and  Kalyani (Wyga) to name a few.

Also in the village are the local school teacher Jose mash (Jishnu), the local priest (Raghavan), Bhadran (Asif Ali), a frustrated youth who is the care taker of the dam in the village and Annie (Aan Augustine), the postwomen waiting for the arrival of her heartthrob Devan (Hemanth)  for their impending marriage.

The one and the only bus service that the protagonists operate is but in a stage of decrepitude.  One day their bus fails to operate midway due to some technical problems, and after the necessary first aids from the workshopmen ( played by Salimkumar , Eravi is forced to driveback the bus to the village as driver Suku is `blackout' due to his heavy drinking habits. And on the way something unusual happens, which forms the rest of the plot.           
 
The beauty of the movie is that it makes use of the mystery of the `mist'ic  highranges to the full and even the mist that you seen in much of the sequences itself becomes a character as the movie progresses.

The performances in the movie are well measured and enacted with Baburaj and Biju Menon taking the major credits with their typical slang and timing. BijuMenon's Palakkad accent is the life of the movie, while his one-liners are mirthful.  Kunchakko Boban, who escaped from his chocolate guy image is adorable in the role of a humble conductor, while the lead lady Shritha Sivadas as one ready to do any job for a living, is also appealing. Ann Augustine but fails once again in crucial sequences, though that doesn't take the charm of the narratives.

The other major highlight of the movie is Faisal Ali's camera that gives an air of a tourism advertisement in the entire former half, with that never ever seen mist filled sequences of valleys, and hairpin curves of hilly areas.  This visual treat, that you may often mistook as visual effects, is sure to be an impressive landing for another Malayalee cameraman to the Mollywood mainstream. Sugeeth as the debutante director has also handled the emotional and lighter sequences with equal punch and ease, making one of the most graceful debut in recent times. The tunes of the five songs by Vidyasagar are hummable while `Su Su sundari..and `Enthini mizhi random' are expected to be the chart toppers.  V Saajan in editing and the art director Suresh kollam has also done an appreciable job, supported with admirable visual effects.

All in all, Ordinary' is definitely a watchable flick for the families and the youth, for its freshness and simplicity in storytelling and treatment. According to the trade predictions, this Ordinary is expected to have a longer trip in the B O than usual.

Rating-6.5/10