And The Oscar Goes To - Malayalam Movie Review

Suhansid Srikanth

Tovino plays a struggling young director, Issac Ibrahim, who finally achieves his dream by directing his debut film. And to his great luck.. it gets nominated as India's official entry for Oscar. Now, how he survives the competition and thrives in a foreign land becomes the rest of the tale. What could have been an inspiring 'rags to riches' story falls short as an average melodrama since the writing fluids out vaguely.

As always, Tovino does his job at its best. As a struggling first time filmmaker who is desparate to get his film shoot done and as a jackpot winner of being an Oscar nominee.. he pulls off these extremes with an ease and effortless realism. The naivity he brings to the character is innocent yet convinces you with the emotional hook it demands.

Madhu Ambat's cinematography is on hand with the narrative while Vijai Shankar's editing is all over the place at times (that maybe, mainly due to the issues in writing). Music by Bijipal tops out the melodrama even more. The only saving grace of the film, at times, is just Tovino's ability to make you buy a scene.

Anu Sithara, who plays the female lead hardly has screentime in this protagonist driven film. There are many popular character artists and pop culture references and throws throughout the film to keep you smiling every now and then. Yet, as the story spans out this larger than life.. the film struggles to engage you as a whole.

Bottomline : 'And the Oscar goes to' is an inspiring story that could have been a great film for the tale it has but struggles big time as the writing chooses to rely majorly on the melodrama.

Rating: 2/5