It’s superstar all the way

Film: Laila O Laila

Director: Joshiy

Cast: Mohanlal, Amala Paul, Sathyaraj, Rahul Dev, Joy Mathew, Ramya Nambeesan

Thrill, suspense, mystery. An average filmgoer looks for these most basic elements in a movie that deals with an under-cover agent on an important mission.

That Laila O Laila is a Mohanlal-starrer directed by ace thriller-maker Joshiy may keep expectations a notch higher.

Presence of the immensely talented Amala Paul triggers the hope that the lead lady is no mere eye-candy. That the story and screenplay are by Suresh Nair, who co-wrote the screenplay of

Kahaani, is hoped to be a reassuring factor lest all else go wrong.

And once in cinemas, what one is in for is an unabashedly and unashamedly Mohanlal fare. So much so that the actor even does a catwalk on screen.

He is the thrill, suspense, mystery all rolled into one. Then you have lascivious bar dancers; a locked-up terrorist refusing to divulge his group’s plan; a gamut of detectives working under cover of an exporting company.

Amidst everything, there is the hero keeping his big secret from his rather young wife, who finds bliss playing homemaker to her beloved.

Despite there being an entire range of experts available on call, the omnipresent lead man has to handle it all.

From breaking into password-protected files and decoding militant communications to chasing the culprits and aborting their mission, his brain and brawn win the day. The heroine gets to be part of the action solely on the basis of her charms and is conveniently dismissed once the party is over and actual operation begins.

Long wait for the twist

What Laila O Laila does is create anticipation for that next big twist, a major breakthrough, a surprise around the corner. And one is still kept waiting even as the end credits roll. Done-to-death sequences and double entendres do their bit to mar the experience. Graphics and visual effects are of no help, either.

The film has a crude-looking contraption complete with batteries and multi-coloured wiring — dubbed a sophisticated explosive — strapped onto the chair-bound heroine. And that sure rings the nostalgic bell for those who spent their teens in the mid-eighties. 

Rasmi Binoy