Grrr.. Malayalam Movie
With a curious title and theme, this comedy-survival-drama puts forward a riveting situation altogether. Writer-director Jay. K braces for pulling out the satirical elements in it in the company of co-writer S Praveen; but 'Grrr..' faces the issue of getting a loud and confident roar. Set in Thiruvananathapuram zoo, the film follows the terrifying situation being faced by the protagonists who have landed in front of a nine-year-old lion. Though it sounds good, the events in the shoddily written screenplay fail to be translated on screen by ramping up the visual language. While you witness the scenes of the efforts of the protagonists to get away from the lion, there are news channel reporters vying for exclusive visuals. These intermittent scenes are neither engaging nor whipping up any interest due to their flat and meaningless visual definition.
At a glance, it is quickly obvious that this comedy drama is dealing with a crude plot. Central performances from Suraj Venjaramoodu as Haridas Nair and Kunchacko Boban as Rejimon Nadar are hardly enough to elevate the proceedings in 'Grrr..' that disastrously struggles to sustain one's curiosity in the plot. The volatile trait of the tale gives innuendos of the dilemma of director whether to keep the narration in survival drama or comedy drama genre. The rescue operation to save Rejimon from the den of the lion is supremely ridiculous at a time when modern equipment is available. These extended sequences really test the patience of viewers, besides carrying on the mundane moments with the introduction of an alcoholic sharpshooter, played by Alencier.
Rejimon, who is in an inebriated state, falls himself into the zoo compound where a lion is kept. A dejected Rejimon resorts to the act after his lover Rachana Nair (Anagha) fails to show up for their secret marriage. As the daughter of political bigwig Iravi Kutti Pillai (Shobi Thilakan), Rachana is facing stiff opposition from her parents for her affair with Rejimon, who is from a different caste. 'Grrr..' tries to explore issues like caste and honour killing in a satirical manner but all the efforts get stuck in their initial stage.
Meanwhile, zoo employee Haridas is also trapped near the lion's cage along with Rejimon and the former tries his best to take the latter out of the dangerous zone. Police and firemen are destined to act as puerile individuals just for fuelling the humour part. The film also showcases the annoyed Mridula (Sruthi Ramachandran), who keeps grumbling about her spouse Haridas for her failure to get a government job. According to her, Haridas had feigned love in their love affair at a PSC examination centre.
Though having the shades of humour, Sruthi gets a couple of grave scenes in the film to perform and she has accomplished it impressively. In fact, her overall presence in the movie upstages the protagonists, who have seldom faced any hurdles while enacting Rejimon and Haridas. The script brings nothing really riveting to the table apart from the theme and it obviously lacks any soul in it. 'Grrr..' is quite unsettled in its treatment and narration from the word go and the climax laced with emotions go haywire. Intended to be a satire, the package has elements of survival drama embellished with tedious events triggered by a lacklustre script.
