Dolphins Malayalam Movie
Diphan's 'The Dolphins' is a half baked cake that has surprisingly got its icing right. It does have its moments here and there, but hardly manages to convince the puzzled viewer of the credibility of the tale that it intends to tell.
Panayamuttam Sura (Suresh Gopi), short for Surapalan, is a leading bar owner based in Trivandrum, who is distraught by the lack of respect bestowed on him by the society, despite having amassed an obscene amount of wealth. When his astrologer suggests that Sura might meet with his end in the coming year, unless and until a woman intervenes, the man is perplexed. While chilling out on the beach along with his best buddy Nandan (Anoop Menon), along pops up on the waves a bottle with a message from a beautiful twenty something Mridula (Meghna Raj), living on a hill station far away.
'The Dolphins' is the kind of film that keeps you fairly engaged while you are gaping at the screen, not on account of the spectacular sequences that unfurl one after the other, but because of an amusing dialogue here or a witty gesture there. It's also the kind of film that goes up in thin air, the moment you walk out of the theatres.
Anoop Menon the writer carries on a bit further with his thoughts on love, glimpses of which we have had the opportunity to watch in 'Trivandrum Lodge'. It's a tribute to the wives and mothers who are waiting or you back home, that comes from Anoop this time around, and even as the whole idea does sound poignant, the film takes the tough way out to drive home its point.
It's a gas balloon that the writer blows up this time around, and after a bit of floating and fluttering around, showing off its vibrant shades, it fizzles down to the ground. There are the flashbacks that take a while to tell their tales, and a sub plot that includes a series of murders. The investigator in charge (Saiju Kurup) assisted by a much-experienced veteran officer (Suraj Venjarammoodu) get busy unearthing the clues to the murders. There isn't much suspense in store, and it ends in haste as well.
The film stumbles on to a rushed finale, but I wouldn't complain, since the climax is perhaps the best part of it all. It also remains that the finest notes in the film are struck in the warm relationship that Sura shares with his wife Vavachi (Kalpana). The rest of it is sheer cacophony, with droll one-liners and double entendres ruling the roost.
All said and done, it's a pleasure to watch Suresh Gopi in action in 'The Dolphins' and you got to hand it over to him that he has given his heart and soul into this performance. The Trivandrum slang does tend to go overboard at times, but it's a decent job from the actor without doubt. I loved Kalpana too in the film, and being an actress one can always bank on, she doesn't disappoint a bit. Meghna Raj looks stunningly gorgeous, while Anoop Menon is just his usual self.
And last but certainly not the least, there is Nishanth Sagar in the role of Sura's body guard who delivers a hilarious performance with his body language. Though he had been around for quite a while now, this is perhaps the first time that Nishanth has managed to bring the house down with his antics, and the young actor deserves a huge pat on his back for this comeback of sorts.
'The Dolphins' keeps you wondering what the central conflict in its plot is for the one hundred and thirty minutes of its running time. And finally, when it makes itself apparent, you do wonder if it was indeed worth all the fuss.
