Villain Review: A content-driven thriller which explores a novel idea
Villain is one of the most anticipated releases that had graced the screens here in Kerala today. The flick was scripted and directed by B Unnikrishnan and as you all know Complete Actor Mohanlal had played the lead role in it. Villain has been bankrolled by RocklineVenkatesh and Tamil actor Vishal too plays an important character in this movie. It has been made using a budget of 20 crore rupees and it had done a pre-release business of 13 crores. Villain was also in the news for the historic advance booking it had got and also for the new records it had set in music rights, overseas rights, and Hindi dubbing rights. Manju Warrier played the female lead in it.
As it is a thriller, we can reveal much about its plot and it will become a spoiler. But we can say that it revolves around the character named Mathew Manjooran IPS, who has been forced to investigate one last case even after retiring from the Police force. He has been called back to solve a murder mystery.
B Unnikrishnan’s previous movie named Mr. Fraud had not made much of an impact in the box office and among critics. But before that, he had delivered two successes named Madampi and Grandmaster with Mohanlal, which still remains in the heart of the audience. After watching his previous movie, we felt that as a director, B Unnikrishnan did not show control and intensity while narrating the story. But this time, in Villain, he had not given any scope of such criticism as he had told the story with intensity and at the same time had total control over the proceedings. It is a mystery thriller or an investigation thriller which had given predominance to emotional element along with thrill.
Even though we had seen many thrillers here in Mollywood, B Unnikrishnan had made this movie stand apart from all of those by making it in a very different way and maybe can use the phrase, never seen before manner. It is a thriller that conveys a message and presented in an emotionally appealing manner. He had presented the plot without any twists or suspense in it. But still, it carried the curiosity element which made the audience glued to their seats till the very end. He made it engaging through a great visual language.
Mohanlal’s performance as Mathew Manjooran was the highlight of this movie. This man is proving again and again that he is the best ever when it comes to the underplaying of emotions. He speaks through his silence, smile and even the blinking of his eyelids conveys a lot to the audience. His body language has been fabulous and there is only one word to describe his portrayal of Mathew Manjooran and that is exceptional. Vishal who played the character named Shakthivel Palanisami had given one of his best ever performances as an actor and he had done a great job. Special Mention has to be given to artists like Manuju Warrier and Siddique as well for their performance in the flick. Artists like, Rashi Khanna, Hansika, Chemban Vinod, Renji Panikker, Aju Varghese, Sai Kumar etc also done a very good job in it.
DOP by Manoj Paramahamsa and Ekambaram was one of the major highlights in its technical side and the visuals given by them set the mood in the movie. The songs from Team Four Musics and Background scoring from Sushin Shyam was also helped the movie a lot to maintain its technical quality. Shameer Muhammad’s editing was crisp as well. The VFX part deserves special mention, as the VFX team had done a very good job in the movie.
Villain is not a usual thriller which focuses on the cat and mouse game between a hero and Villain. But it tries to convey an idea that there is a hero in every Villain and still a villain in every Hero. It is a content driver movie, which used the actor in Mohanlal than the stardom of his. It will never disappoint the viewers if they love to watch a movie which offers them something new and different along with entertainment.
