Film: Kohinoor
Direction: Vinay Govind
Starring: Asif Ali, Indrajith, Aju Varghese, Chemban Vinod, Vinay Forrt, Aparna Vinod
‘Go retro’- this seems to be the mantra ruling the Malayalam film industry for the past couple of years. The game plan is to tap into the overflowing feeling of nostalgia of those who grew up in the 1980s and 90s.
References to popular films, television shows or a line from a hit song of those times, characters sporting hairstyles and costumes from that era and glimpses of various nostalgia-inducing things like tape recorders, make their dutiful appearances. Not that it is a bad thing.
Even films set in current times use these tricks to showcase the growing up years of the protagonist. Kohinoor , directed by Vinay Govind, is set entirely in 1988, a year which the narrator tells us is remarkable for various political and cinematic reasons.
Marking that year on screen are VCR rental shops, background music with triple drums and disco elements and slightly over-the-top outfits worn by the men.
Haider (Indrajith) hatches a plan to steal some diamonds from a racket run by a textile group.
Not being talented in the art of stealing, he gets Nicholas (Chemban Vinod) and Freddy (Vinay Forrt) to do the job.
They in turn sub-contract it to a small-time thief Aandikunju (Aju Varghese), who gets his friend Louis (Asif Ali) too involved.
Louis tells us straightaway that his ambition is to become someone in the mould of Tharadas from Athirathram or Sagar Alias Jacky from Irupatham Noottand . A few scenes are also used pay tributes to these anti-heroes.
All through, it stays true to the heist movie template seen recently in Sapthamashree Thaskaraha , with emphasis on situational humour.
In a delightful scene, two of the characters are shown watching the Aamir Khan starrer Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak , with one of them dismissing the boyish hero and predicting doom for his career.
It might not have sounded funny in 1988, but in 2015, it certainly is.
The proceedings before interval, which focusses on the planning of the heist, are marked by aimlessness.
Things pick up post-interval especially in the long sequence set inside the textile shop.
The quick twists and turns come together in the end to make an average heist movie in the end.
S.R. Praveen
