Aashiq Abu’s Rifle Club scores in aesthetics, technicality, falls behind in storytelling

A fancy old mansion that looks like it was ripped off the pages of a fairytale and placed somewhere in Kerala can look pretty charming cinematically. Even more so when the house is populated with a few dozen guns and a large quirky family, ever ready for action. Aashiq Abu’s new film Rifle Club may get a perfect score for aesthetics, but falls behind in storytelling, riding on the music and the mood of its quaint setting. 

It is the 90s and music flows out of records, with no cell phone in the picture. Costumes are old-worldly, only not quite what were seen in Kerala of the 90s, but more in tune with the fairytale character of the setting. The Rifle Club – a sporting centre of sorts with rifles for hunting – becomes the centre of action when a film actor (Vineeth Kumar) comes there to train for a new action film. While the large family greets him and makes merry, two troubled youngsters enter the place, running away from an encounter with a rogue gang. 

There is hardly a moment wasted in a plot literally crowded with many men and women, guns taking charge after the small talk is over. There is enough firing to keep you hooked, rifles and automatics filling the screen for a good half of the less than two hour film.

Performances are a given, with a mostly impeccable cast, led by Dileesh Pothan, Unnimaya Prasad, Vijayaraghavan, Darshana Rajendran, Vishnu Agasthya, and others. Acclaimed Hindi filmmaker Anurag Kashyap makes a thunderous appearance as the rich and ruthless antagonist who is out for revenge. Another stellar introduction is made by Hanumankind, the rapper and songwriter who made waves this year with his single “Big Dawgs”. Actor Vani Vishwanath, known for her action roles in the past, also makes a comeback with the film. 

With all the stellar introductions, snappy wisecracks, and a handful of moments calling for applause, the script appears to cater to a certain audience that gets high on quick thrills. You have Vani producing a gun when a young man insists to be shown the man of the house; Dileesh’s many retorts to the villain challenging him from rooms away; witty oneliners from Suresh Krishna, who plays a doctor (and who seems to be doing well in his new avatar as comedian). 

The music in these moments turn menacing, rising and falling as the occasion calls, Rex Vijayan’s master strokes at work. The picturesque place – surrounded by woods – is a haven for a cinematographer, and director Aashiq Abu, also stepping behind the camera, delivers admirably. But the pictures of violence, on man and animal, can be insufferable for some. 

While you can go on about the technicalities, the storyline – despite being scripted by wonderful writers like Syam Pushkaran, Dileesh Karunakaran, and Sharfu – appears wannabe and pretentious, lines and actions appearing more like cue cards for audience reactions than tools to drive the story forth. Some of the dialogue can also seem distasteful – like the dining room conversation about an actor’s kissing scene – even if it is meant to establish the unruliness of the Rifle Club family. 

The story would have worked even with the same amount of loudness and warfare, only if it had progressed organically, without trying to be such and such, and without the artificiality it inadvertently ended up adopting. Nevertheless, the film has the right elements to appeal to many the way it is.

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 producers or any other members of its cast and crew.