ABCD ("ENTERTAINING IN PARTS")

June 21, 2013

Cast: Dulquar Salman, Jacob Gregory, Aparna Gopinath, Lalu Alex.

Director: Martin Prakkat.

Martin Prakkat made his first film with Mammootty and interestingly now in his second he has chosen Dulquar Salman as his hero.

Johns (Dulquar) and Kora (Jacob Gregory) are two American born mallus whose main aim in life is to have fun with their parents’ money. After an untoward incident both of them are forced to leave USA. So Isaac (Lalu Alex), Johns’ dad sends them to Kerala for a month after which Johns will fly to Melbourne for higher studies and Kora will start a business in France.

The film begins in USA showing the life that the lead characters are having there, which might have been necessary but unduly prolonged and mechanical. But after those few minutes the film starts picking up pace once the characters move to Kerala.

There are a lot of funny scenes in the first half of the film like the interactions between Johns-Kora and: “Anglo Indian”,the flat manager and Madhumita most of which keep coming at regular intervals. The sequence where Johns and Kora try getting back their money from the fake currency dealers is one you will really enjoy.

Newcomer Aparna Gopinath delivers a strong performance but her character seems to be half baked at times. Apart from a few scenes of her’s the first almost entirely belongs to the “Anglo Indian”, Johns and Kora (except for his horrible English which really dulls the comic sense that he seems to be having). Dulquar looks so comfortable and at ease with his role which is something we are very much getting used to nowadays.

The politics which is more of a sidetrack in the first half takes centrestage in the second and that leads to the downfall of all that was built up till then. When this film could easily have been a hilarious trip that the two leads go through the screenplay makes a total mess of it introducing politics and social issues, which while relevant, end up looking like being introduced just for the sake of it. This coupled with the first few minutes in USA makes the film unbearably long.

This does not mean that you are in for a waste of time considering the fact that every now and then there is something in the screenplay that will make you laugh. Add to it the refreshing background score by Gopi Sundar, who is on a roll nowadays , and the wonderful cinematography by Jomon T John; and ABCD worth your time!

I am giving a 2.5/5 for American Born Confused Desi. Watch it for timepass.

Rating Scale (Out of 5)

Less than 2                   -           Unwatchable.

2    to 2.25                   -           Below average.

2.5 to 2.75                   -           Average.

       

3    to 3.25                   -           Good.

3.5 to 3.75                   -           Really Good.

4    to 4.25                   -           Great.

4.5 and above               -          Extraordinary.