Bougainvillea

Well, sometimes I ask myself the question: what am I to expect from an Amal Neerad film? Is it protagonists (or antagonists) looking like they dropped straight from heaven in stylish costumes? Is it those soft-glow-induced frames where aesthetics tower over the plot? Is it the sudden burst of slo-mo action scenes? Maybe, all of this and more. Given he works with technicians like Vivek Harshan (edits), Joseph Nellickal (prod. Design), Anend C Chandran (cinematography), and Sushin Shyam (music), the kind of audio-visual output one expects is nothing short of tremendous. Bougainvillea wholly delivers in that regard, and a solid (returning) Jyothirmayi and a suave Kunchacko Boban make it worth your while.

The first half of the film (i.e. The drama) really worked for me. I won't go into the details of the plot, but the way Amal chooses to present it holds promise. It carries an underlying question related to identity and mostly toys with the concept of memories. There's also an element of art blending with crime, which brings Fahad Fazil's cop into the mix. The other recurring characters include that of Srinda, Sharaf, and Veena. As I hadn't read the novel on which the film is based, I really thought Amal would decide to go all out pulpy in his signature style in the second half. But it underdelivers-neither is that big twist very convincing in its presentation, nor is it shocking enough to make you go "what the hell". The final 20 minutes or so, is fun, in a grindhouse-like way (no big "empowerment" feels here, tbh!).

Sure, there's the instant gratification in all of it, cooked in typical Amal Neerad garnishing. When you consider the film in totality, it isn't likely to satisfy hardcore crime-thriller enthusiasts (who are in it for the plot, the performances, and the twists) or churn out dozens of fresh Amal-Neerad-converts. It lies somewhere in the middle, offering mild thrills and good-to-great performances, but not making a whole lot of sense plotwise (Ikigai? The flashback scene? That unnecessary exposition scene at the end-What was all that for?) or little-details-wise. Also, a criminally underutilized Fahad Fazil is never a good thing.