Good art seldom allows the viewer digressions. But, if one starts relishing the taste of popcorn and coffee more than anything during a movie, the work is not riveting. Idiots , K.S. Bava’s directorial debut, gives one ample opportunities for such culinary digressions.
Sangeeth Sivan script
A Sangeeth Sivan script, a new director, actors such as Asif Ali, Vijayaraghavan, and Baburaj could have whipped up a world of fun, more so after the publicity materials screamed the coming of an ‘all-round entertainer.’
The tired script plods through weary ways and does not progress to a logical conclusion. The attempts at comedy evoke in one a revulsion for the slapstick genre.
Female lead Sanusha’s character treads the narrow brink of naivety and neurosis.
Asif Ali meets Sanusha in ‘a late-night operation.’ But Asif Ali gets hit by a football, played by a team of children (yes, late night).
And from then, the duo gets busy and is joined by Baburaj. The trio forget to get a dress change even after falling off the Mattancherry bridge, riding in an autorickshaw for a long time, and roaming around Kochi for hours (song included).
The movie ends with the cast wearing the very same vestures.
The drop-hammer background score gels well with the pandemonium.
Lyrics
The lyrics by Rafeeque Ahamed and Santhosh Varma are weak and are set to tune by Nandu Kartha.
The only scene which stays in memory is the one at the police station where an aurally challenged autorickshaw driver explains an incident to an ‘expert’ of the police.
The shots are straight and photography is ignored as a department.
There is no capturing the youthfulness of the cast or the vibrancy of the milieu.
It is testimony to the fact that tonal variations (of frames) cannot substitute genuine hard work.
Film: Idiots
Director: K.S. Bava
Cast: Asif Ali, Vijayaraghavan, Baburaj, Sanusha, Sunil Sugadha
