Aavesham Review - An Energetic Actioner!

Ashwin Ram

Aavesham is an action comedy venture starring Fahad Faasil in the lead roles. The film is directed by Jithu Madhavan who gave the yesteryear blockbuster horror-comedy Romancham.

Premise:
In a college situated at Bangalore, three students from Kerala face heavy ragging from their seniors. They start to look out for local support through gundas for a payback. They come across Fahad Faasil who is a terrifying gangster in town, what happens after these boys become one among his gang forms the remaining story.

Writing/ Direction:
The idea is a simple one to think about, but it is peculiar in its own way that has not been explored much on the big-screen. The setup is different, the director is crystal clear in his intention that it is a story of three boys and Fahad Faasil is the one who steps in as an outsider. However Fahad Faasil steals the show post his entry alongside the Romancham artist who plays his right hand here. There is a curiosity factor that constantly surrounds his character, his plan of action is never predictable and that works as a terrific intriguing quotient in the flow. The first half is gripping with things progressing briskly and there’s a refreshing element in every scene. The staging is minute, in the sense we don’t find it big during the establishment stage, but ends as a huge payoff moment towards the end, the basic KGF music kept as a phone ringtone makes a big change in a character decision at a crucial stage. There are plenty of laugh-out-loud sequences sprayed at regular intervals, the gun-demo scene especially was a blast. Fahad Faasil’s flashback could have had more depth, which in a way would have made his enemy character strong with whom he is battling at present. There are some dull spots in the second half which mellow-down the screenplay, overly stretched to arrive at the final act and in the due course the film wastes time on a couple of random situations like the long-drawn-out dumb charades sequence. However the climax is solid and there is also a sensible realization factor that strikes for the lead characters.

Performances:
The three college boys on whom the story predominantly revolves around are perfectly casted as they fit the bill exceptionally well. Fahad Faasil hits it out of the park with a cakewalk character for him, alongside the rage mode which he was in for almost the entire part, tapping the emotional side of the gangster was a very clever move. Satin Gopu who rocked in Romancham plays a huge role here as Fahad Faasil’s frontman, his quirky expressions offer a lot of laughter. No scope for Mansoor Ali Khan as he appears in a very weak role with no scope to perform.

Technicalities:
No big variety in the song moods, tunes and sounding, but still works as a no-brainer. Fine piece of background score, right from the Rangan theme to the melting music for certain situations, clean work overall. Rich cinematography, many night sequences lighted and shot with so much planning, the fight sequences are captured with the usage of high-speed shots that creates a difference. Neat editing, many quick transitions yet done seamlessly, however the second half runtime could have been scissored a bit.

Bottomline

A cleverly crafted saga with a good balance of enjoyable humor, quirky action and intense drama with a tinge of an emotional angle. The wholesome satisfaction is missing as the later half takes a back seat.

Rating - 3/ 5