Bromance Review - A Funky Flick That Mostly Entertains!

Ashwin Ram

Bromance is a comedy drama starring Mathew Thomas, Arjun Ashokan, Mahima Nambiar and Sangeeth Prathap in the lead roles. Directed by Jo and Jo fame Arun D. Jose.

Premise:

Mathew Thomas’ elder brother played by Shyam Mohan goes mysteriously missing. With a handful of clues, how Mathew Thomas and gang track him down forms the remaining story.

Writing/ Direction:

There are a bunch of characters, the beauty is that they all have their own unique features, initially it felt like Mathew Thomas has been given the utmost importance and Arjun Ashokan is treated like a sidekick, the director has saved the best for the last and has peaked the actor in the final act. Apt title to begin with, even the honeycomb font style has an indication with the story, likewise the film is filled with these small moments that become something big and beautiful in totality. Screenplay is a template investigation, no chance to have clicked if it had been serious as there are no big twists or turns in the narrative. The quirky treatment is the appealing factor here, the plot proceedings simultaneously happen with enough entertainment values. Many trendy ideas have been incorporated suiting the current scenario, that includes the movie references and importantly the usage of 'Google translate' feature. Layered setups and payoffs show the sincerity in writing despite the tone being a light-hearted one, the dots created have been carefully connected in the latter. A lot of enjoyable comedies exist throughout the movie, especially the blasting final forty minutes with hilarious stretches and theatre worthy elements. However there are some jokes that land flat too. One major issue after the location shifts to Coorg is that the story stays stagnant for quite some time without moving ahead briskly, it is bothersome because the hint was revealed at the interval point to the viewers as well. Also there is an in-built potential to tap the emotional quotient between the brothers, but left bluntly without zooming deep on the aspect.

Performances:

Tricky character yet Mathew Thomas has played it with finesse, he manages to portray a guy with anger issues and effortlessly shouts without being annoying. Arjun Ashokan underplays for the most part, and that is probably why his contradictory behaviour of over-enthusiasm works big time towards the end. Mahima Nambiar glows like a doll on-screen and does well in a character that is efficiently utilized in the story. Premalu fame Sangeeth Prathap is a revelation and proves his mettle once again here with his groovy presence and quirky dialogue delivery. Kalabhavan Shajohn offers immense fun in the flow with his unique body language and style.

Technicalities:

Govind Vasantha has given trippy foot-tapping tracks that go well with the approach of the film. The background score blends perfectly with the picture, tweaking and implementing the Avengers music at the end is a banger of a creative choice which is sure to work wonders with the crowd. Neat work with respect to both cinematography and editing, the camera team has delivered what is exactly required for the subject and the 135 minutes runtime is a right fit. Good scope for stunts in the climax, great work by the team by understanding the director’s notion and mood of the scene.

Bottomline

Simple subject executed in good fashion, treating a potential thriller humorously does the trick. The wacky characterizations and uber-cool performances uplift the energy. However, minor flaws do pop out when the progress pauses for a bit post midway.

Rating - 3.25/ 5