Chanthupottu (2005) : A Controversy

                            Chanthupottu is a Malayalam movie directed by Lal Jose and released in 2005 . It tells the story of Radhakrishn...

Aug 31, 2016

Idi Malayalam Movie Review


Its too hard to define the genre of Sajid Yahia's IDI. IDI is the short form of Inspector Dawood Ibrahim, the title character that actor Jayasurya portray. About the film, it is a mix of action, gangster comedy, a little spoof and one can also find little dose of elements that is common in heist films.

Ultimately its a mass masala film giving a stylish makeover and a large than life role to the hero who is a police officer. Where the line falls for categorising the film is the next big question. I was hearing some very bad feedbacks for IDI but at the same time heard some positive comments also in the past couple of days after the release. I wasn't completely disappointed though not completely satisfied too. But at the time time, I enjoyed the film partially as a no logic entertainer. So its an average experience for me with Sajid Yahia's debut outing.

Dawood Ibrahim from his childhood dreams of becoming a police officer. His dreams are all modelled with him being a stylish and daredevil officer beating criminals in a way we have seen in most hero centric police films in Malayalam and Tamil. Ultimately our title protagonist ends up as a cop thereby realising his ultimate dream. The place where he is posted is at Kollanahali, a place close to the Kerala Karnataka border. But what turned his plans upside down is what we see in IDI and how he handles the same is narrated in the film.

The problem with the film is the stand it has taken to remain in a zone of spoof, gangster comedy, action plus heroism taking a serious tone in its approach though there is humour in the backdrop for entertainment. Had it been an outright spoof film, IDI would have a different result and the enjoyment level would have been totally the opposite of what it is now. Still I am in no mood to totally reject the film since I had my share of enjoyment in the film and there were entertaining moments in it. It was a predictable storyline that one can guess at a very early phase of the film.

Though at times it goes over the top, the action forming part of this threadbare storyline was tolerable evoking memories of Tamil cop movies. There were some genuine comedy scenes too evoking laughter but the way it was mixed with serious situations at times created an awkward feel.

In my opinion, the film created a wrong perception of what we are going to witness in its promotion through the teaser, trailer and poster. Maybe a better strategy there would have given a better result for the film. Anyway whatever is done and happened is past and in the present circumstance, its better to market the film of what it actually is. Since Sajid an online promoter by himself would know it best how to do that I am leaving that aspect to him.

Jayasurya in a mass and larger than life cop role has delivered the results that are expected out of him from such a role. Joju George, Sudhy Kopa and Gokulan, the three member local thiefs gang was successful in making us laugh with some good witty dialogues and situations. Same goes for Sunil Sugatha as Kuttan Pilla and Molly Kannamali as Angel Mary, the police constables of Kollanahali. Yog Japee, the villain, Saiju Kurupu and the petty thief of the area( not sure about his name) were also notable with their acting. Sshivada who made a memorable performance pairing up with Jayasurya in Su Su Sudhi Valmeekam didn't had a meaty stuff this time to bring her talents out as she is limited to just a few scenes and a song.

Rahul Raj has given some hard and foot tapping background score with lot of energy in it matching the stylish format of the film. The melodious song pictured on Jayasurya and Sshivada was a good one too. Cinematography and cuts were fine too.

Overall, IDI is a mix of everything that didn't fully satisfy the entertainment appetite in me but still it gave me occasional enjoyment which puts me to assign the debut outing of Sajid Yahia to an average one. Not fully pleased but not completely crestfallen either!

Rating - 2.5 / 5

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