Gentlewoman Review - Endurance is must to enjoy the powerful last hour!

Ashwin Ram

Gentlewoman is a dramatic thriller starring Lijomol Jose, Hari Krishnan and Losliya in the lead roles. Directed by debutant Joshua Sethuraman and the music is scored by Govind Vasantha.

Premise:

Hari Krishnan and Lijomol Jose are a newly married intimate couple, while the former is a LIC agent and the latter is a homemaker. A major turnaround of events takes place when their family friend enters the house for a stay-over.

Writing/ Direction:

It is a slowburn flick where the setup takes its own sweet time to take off. There are a bunch of tiny details that add up at the payoff stage, however there are bothersome issues with the establishments. The equation between the couple, their coversing style in particular, feels extremely cheesy. Dialogues are a mixed bag, do wonders when it works especially in the later half, but many flirty one-liners sound cringey and the commentary on men are preachy. There is a progress in the first hour that leads to something big near the interval block, but there are hindrances in the form of repetitive romantic stretches and certain filler scenes, the one involving the apartment ladies for example. The noble theme and the core incident that takes place to exhibit hold the film to an extent till midway despite its shortcomings. The film flies high post interval, the drama is strongly set, powered by some crazy character developments and arcs. The situations around the cops are satirical and instantly funny. The substance is dark, yet flows joyfully by offering a lot of lively moments that are clap-worthy. Even certain props create some sort of impact, just a phone ringtone for that matter evokes laughter. Consequential tension is steadily maintained, at the same time the foolishness of the interrogators is very convincingly written and shown. Such a cracker of a climax, doesn’t step out from the subtle mood, still ends with a punch.

Performances:

Lijomol does a completely satisfying job as a silent killer, the minute details in her character’s mind was blatantly evident with her pitch-perfect expressions. Very interesting role for Losliya and apt casting choice too, the intensity was initially low, thankfully her character gets beautifully shaped as the film evolves. Hari Krishnan gets his work right from the very beginning. Supporting artists are mostly new faces, yet they have done complete justice to their roles, especially the actors who played as police officers are great finds.

Technicalities:

Trademark Govind Vasantha style of songs, calming numbers that do the needful. Impactful background score, probably scoring for one of his first thriller genre movies and nicely done. Efficient work by the cinematographer, translates the storyworld and director’s notion neatly without overdoing in any circumstances. Unhurried edit pattern works well and the runtime is less than two hours, however the first half could have had some trimming to elevate sooner to the next big plot point.

Bottomline

Starts as a sluggish drama, decently steps into the crime thriller zone, then engages well in the second half as a full on dark comedy. Has its flaws, but does not affect the end result much due to the exciting moments it offers at regular intervals.

Rating - 2.75/ 5