Multi-starrers have always been the flavour of the film industry as it more or less ensures a hit owing to the earth shattering initial though at times the script might be absolute crap as in "Chinatown" etc. This week witnessed the release of "The King & the Commissioner", one of the most anticipated films in recent times. With the coming together of Mammooty & Suresh Gopi, who are two of the best dialogue hurlers that our industry has produced, fireworks are expected to fly. The question is will it be able to replicate the success that "The King" & "The Commissioner" garnered???
Shaji Kailas's brand of film making has always dealt with political thrillers & his latest venture also deals with the same. The film unfolds with Pakistan hatching a plot to eliminate the Indian PM & entrusts Major Abul Rana to carry out the mission. However, the Indian Intelligence under Dr. Sudarshan (Nedumudi Venu) was able to intercept this plan, but gets brutally murdered before the authorities could be alerted regarding the impending doom. This coaxs Union Minister GK (Janardhanan) to bring in fire brand bureaucrat, Joseph Alex (Mammooty) to head the investigation with the assistance of Bharath Chandran IPS (Suresh Gopi). With time, it becomes clear that Pakistani militants are aided by Indian money monging traitors such as Chandramoliswara Swami (Saikumar) & kingpin bureaucrat Raman Madhav (Jayan Cherthala). How Joseph Alex & Bharath Chandran saves the day forms the crux of the film.
The film marks the coming together of the dynamic duo of Shaji Kailas & Renji Panicker after 17 years. It wouldnt be wrong to acknowledge the fact they have been instrumental in bringing about the trend of the protagonist blasting bombastic dialogues interspersed with English against a political backdrop. The script doesnt offer anything new as expected & true to his style, Renji's dialogues were powerful evoking applause from the audience. Shaji's time & tested cinematographic routine is brought back to the fore such as fixation for the limbs & dentals of the protagonists, gust of wind, smoking guns etc. The first half of the film plays to the galleries with fantastic intros & dialogues, but the second half turns out to be a painful drag as it becomes tiring to our senses as it runs close to 3 hours 15mins & makes us leave the theatre with a heavy head. As for other aspects, the editing was fine & the BGM does lift the mood of the sequences.
After having reprised their roles from "The King" & "The Commissioner" respectively, both Mammooty & Suresh Gopi have done total justice to their roles. Being part of such iconic & similar films before, I would say it was a cake walk for them. Saikumar as the antagonist was powerful though he was made to ape many of the actions made legendary by the late Narendra Prasad. After having being the side-kick of the villains in many of the films, Jayan Cherthala does land up with the plum role of one of the prime villians here & performs aptly. As for the rest of the crew, they were more or less sound boards or punching bags for the protagonists.
Verdict: As one would expect, the film will take a thunderous initial which more or less ensures it to be a hit for sure. It's common sense that Shaji Kailas's films arent made for Moral Science classes rather an opportunity for the fans to have a field day & this film ensures that. If at all they had edited the length close to an hour, it would have done wonders. In short, if you have the patience & endurance to sit through 3 hours of constant gun shots & ear piercing dialogues, then this is your cup of tea or else you might walk out half an hour before the end!!!
Rating: 2.5/5
Regards...Ben
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