A few minutes into the long, long film enters the real hero of this thriller – the background score. The movie thrives on the background score, played every time there is a slow walk-away from the scene by Asif Ali, who plays one of the male leads, and every time a smart one-liner is spoken, which is most of the script.
Underworld is one such film where the lines seem written only to be delivered with attitude, with that background score, with a smirk. The story itself, while it has some content, is all too superficial and the film, directed by Arun Kumar Aravind, tries too hard to create some ‘star’ moments.
The film begins with Stalin John (Asif Ali) in hospital, and the opening credits take you back to his younger years, growing up as a teen getting into trouble and becoming a Communist. Two other young men’s tales are also shown, one falling in love with a girl while also beating up others, the other going to the sea after some smuggled goods. Boy 2 Majeed (Farhaan Faasil) grows up to become a goon who beats up people for money and who still has the same girlfriend (Ketaki Narayan). Boy 3 is Solomon, played by Lal Junior, a ruthless fellow who’d kill his own dog if it came in the way of his hunting.
From the beginning, Stalin’s character seems written only to be that heroic hero with all the overly courageous actions and talk. But there is consistency. He is a man who acts before he thinks, who has to get his payback immediately. So when he has a tiff with a senior party leader over a film theatre, he lets the whole thing go up in flames even if it means years in prison for him. It is to this life of disarray that Majeed walks in and an unlikely friendship is formed in quick time. And in jail. Padmanabhan Nair (Mukesh), an old politician who is behind bars for a Rs 500 crore bribery case, is interested in getting these two men to work for him. He had unwisely trusted his young friend Solomon with the money and now he needs help.
The first half of the movie goes on in this manner, with all the characters insisting on talking in puns and riddles to each other (particularly Padmanabhan and Solomon). But it manages to keep your interest, to see where this is going. The second half, however, fails to do that, dragging on for too long till you wonder when it would all be over.
What’s however puzzling is why the women characters in the script were written at all – Amalda Liz plays Solomon’s surprisingly uncurious wife; Samyuktha Menon appears in a couple of scenes with Asif Ali to talk money. Then there’s Ketaki, Majeed’s on-off girlfriend. You don’t get why they are there at all. Annie (Amalda) tells Solomon in one scene she doesn’t know what he does outside the home and yet, when she sees a stranger come and beat him up at their home, she asks no questions. There is more to do for Sreelakshmi who plays Asif’s mother and Muthumani, his lawyer. And they are both admirable in the short time they appear.
But then the male leads too have done their parts well. Asif plays his heroic Stalin the way it’s meant to be played. Farhaan is surprisingly refreshing as a goon with little mercy. And Lal Jr easily becomes the menacing Solomon. Mukesh of course is a veteran and comfortably switches from the earlier romantic heroes he once played to become the septuagenarian politician.
Somewhere in the plot is a sincere attempt at a thriller, with some foolish bravery and friendships, but that is buried beneath layers of drama and of course, the background score (and it is good, courtesy Yakzan Gary Pereira and Neha Nair).
Disclaimer: This review was not paid for or commissioned by anyone associated with the film. Neither TNM nor any of its reviewers have any sort of business relationship with the film's producers or any other members of its cast and crew.