Bheemante Vazhi Review: 3.25/5
We all loved Angamaly Diaries. The raw and realistic approach to the film was excellent. We all loved Thamasha as well. The story of Sreenivasan told in such a beautiful way, in spite of being a remake, was superb to watch. Now automatically, the expectations of viewers would be sky high when the writer of Angamaly Diaries Chemban Vinod Jose and director of Thamasha Ashraf Hamza join hands for a new project titled Bheemante Vazhi.
This film stars an ensemble cast consisting of Kunchacko Boban, Jinu Joseph, Chinnu Chandni, Binu Pappu, Vincy Aloshious, Divya Nair, Suraj Venjaramoodu, Megha Thomas, Naseer Sankranti, Bhagath Manuel, Shabareesh Varma, Ashvin Mathew and others.
Premise of Bheemante Vazhi
Bheemante Vazhi introduces us to a small town, wherein several individuals live together in harmony. Sanju aka Bheeman (Kunchacko Boban) asks Councilor Rita (Divya Nair) for the construction of a proper road, accessible to every house after he finds it difficult to help his mother reach the hospital during an emergency.
He, along with the Councilor, calls for a meeting with the residents of the locality and gathers their approval. However, Oothampalli Kostheppu (Jinu Joseph) disagrees with giving land for the purpose and creates a ruckus. How does Bheeman go forward with the construction? Will Kostheppu cause issues for the locality inhabitants? Will things go “Bheemante vazhi”? All of this is shown in the remaining part of the film.
Writing and direction
The theme inculcated in Bheemante Vazhi is highly relevant and making a satirical depiction of the same is not an easy task. Chemban’s skills as a screenwriter help in giving the film certain hilarious instances, indirect jabs at real-life situations as well as building the characters of the story. However, the story and the screenplay feel a bit slow and dragged out and becomes less interesting after a point in time.
Bheemante Vazhi starts off with several scenes that kind of feel oddly placed and have no solid connection with each other. Once the film starts gaining pace and setting up the main plot, it gets interesting but still feels slow and dragged out. The movie reaches a high in the concluding portions of the film and makes those portions quite enjoyable.
The satire in the script works in some instances but misfires in many areas. Humour in the film isn’t forced and is quite enjoyable, but isn’t memorable enough. Ashraf Hamza as the director of the film tries his best to make the visuals interesting and appealing, but the slow narrative and an uninteresting flow of events make Bheemante Vazhi quite a slogfest.
Acting Performances
Moving on to the acting performances, the cast has done a great job. Kunchacko Boban as Bheeman is good in his role and doesn’t overdo his part. Binu Pappu does great as Das, an autorickshaw driver. He has great comic timing and humorous scenes with him stand out.
However, the show-stealer of Bheemante Vazhi is undoubtedly Jinu Joseph. The manner in which he plays Kostheppu is absolutely phenomenal. After having seen him in villain roles earlier, Jinu is an absolute revelation in this film. The body language, dialogue delivery and the nuanced manner in which he plays the role are awesome.
The other supporting cast, which includes Chinnu Chandni, Vincy Aloshious, Divya Nair, Suraj Venjaramoodu, Megha Thomas, Naseer Sankranti, Bhagath Manuel, Shabareesh Varma, Ashvin Mathew and the others too do some great work with their roles.
Technical Work
The cinematography by Gireesh Gangadharan is beautiful to watch. The long shots showcase the small locality in which the film is set, the visuals through thin pathways to depict the helpless nature of the inhabitants of the area, without a road as well as the beautiful picturisation of the song, is awesome to watch. Editing by Nizam Kadiry helps keep the film slick. The music and background score by Vishnu Vijay elevates the different scenes in the film and gives it the required feel. The production designers, set and art department deserve credits for their great contributions.
Should You Give Bheemante Vazhi A Chance?
As a whole, Bheemante Vazhi is a film that had a great premise at hand, but the sloppy writing makes the film a dull watch. The only intriguing and interesting part, which had a lot of humour as well, was the climax and ending. I personally expected a lot more humour and satire from the film, but it just ended up as an average watch. The theme it deals with is quite relevant, but the film required better writing to captivate the audience’s attention. The great acting performances, especially from Jinu Joseph, is what makes Bheemante Vazhi a bearable watch. I found the film to be just a decent one time watch. The film could be given a watch if you want to see Jinu Joseph absolutely nail his role, because personally, I didn’t find anything special or appealing in the storyline or the making of the film.