India Pakistan - Mixed Bag

 Bharath Vijayakumar

Not many would have predicted that Vijay Antony would come up with back to back winners at the box office with his first 2 attempts as an actor. Both Naan and Salim proved that the music composer was quite a good judge in choosing a script that could accommodate him as the leading man.Would he score a hat trick with India Pakistan?

Plot:

The movie essentially starts of as a love hate relationship between two youngsters whose circumstances force them to live under one roof.While this line remains the central idea the movie also tracks an encounter involving a corrupt cop and these two lines converge in the climax.

Cast:

Vijay Antony has tried his hand at comedy this time. While he hasn't come out with flying colours, he does not come off as a complete miscast either. His limited expressions or subtle reactions (whichever way you like to call it) is like a cat on the wall. It suits well in a few subtle jokes but also comes off as wanting at a few instances. New girl Sushma Raj who could give complex to a few heroes with her height, is adequate. Jagan does bring a few laughs. Pasupathy and M.S.Bhaskar continue to impress us with their versatility.

The film at the end is that sort of a cricket match which does have interesting moments but hugely interspersed with dry spells.The film is too long with a run time of 157 minutes. A crisper version with all the moments that worked would have been the typical T20 match which you would enjoy and come out with no complaints. The good thing about the film is while some of the comical scenes are really good the remaining majority that might not make you laugh does not hurt that bad either.You have examples of recent films where the intended jokes really put you off. A small stretch involving Manobala in a mall towards the climax has you in splits. You only wish these glimpses of neat humour were more frequent.

Bottomline:

A film that oscillates between mediocrity and few genuinely funny movements, India Pakistan is a mixed bag. A highlights package(crisper version) would have definitely left a better impact.

Rating:2.5/5