Doctor-Patient Malayalam Movie
Doctor Patient is a rabid rendezvous with madness that in its best moments looks like an aggressively obnoxious comedy. For the rest of it, its mostly monotonous slapstick, and worn-out and obvious gags.
Dr. Reuben Isaac (Jayasurya) has a few humanitarian tactics lined up his sleeve, that makes him a favorite with the patients at the Psychiatric Hospital. The hospital MD, Rakhi Devdas (Radha Verma) doesn't take too kindly to his innovative strategies and puts her iron foot down on his plans. However they soon strike up an affiliation, and things look headed for a glorious sunset, until an unexpected visitor (Mukesh) turns up at the sanatorium's doorstep.
They tell me that sanity is relative. You never know for sure, if what you believe to be rational is indeed reasonable or just the opposite. Whatever be the case, I have to presume that I remain at the moment as sane as one could possibly be, and proclaim this nitwit of a film as an insult to lunacy.
There is a fake compassion that the film hosts towards the deranged mind. It becomes pretty obvious with all the jokes that center on the eccentricities of a bunch of men who have totally lost it. For most of the time, they are tripping over each other, uttering nonsense and generally making clowns of themselves so that the rest of the world be amused.
There are a few intermittent laughs and funny sequences but they never come together as a whole. There is simply no such thing as focus or pacing in this film. Most of the exploits are done to death and there are even a couple of badly rehashed text message jokes doing the rounds.
I couldn't help let out a chuckle when I found that there weren't any women patients around in the hospital. Holy Cow! Not even one. Perhaps the filmmaker is trying to make a convincing point.
There is a mention of Jack Nicholson somewhere in the film that brings to mind the one that flew over the cuckoo's nest. Perhaps coincidental, but it was short and sweet reminiscence, albeit for a brief while.
Half the star that makes up the one and a half rating on the top needs to be handed out to Hariharan for a brilliant rendition. A simply outstanding melody that would be hummed for a long time to come, it's a song-in-the-song-slot kinda number that would nevertheless be noted for its melodic splendor.
It's been quite pleasing to see Jayasurya experimenting with a host of diverse roles recently. However here is a wrong role for the actor who has pretty much little to do except perhaps for the last ten minutes of the film. And by then, the narrative has suffered such a downslide that he's left with nothing to salvage. And as asked, he wraps up the mess as good as he can and waves a hushed goodbye.
As much as I was dying to pop down a couple of tranquilizers down my throat, I murmured to myself that I have been through worse comedies than this. And it was then that somebody beside me gave me a look that said - What are you? Nuts?
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