Everyone who had seen Roja (1992) or Bombay (1995) would be a lifetime fan of Arvind Swami, adding to that his outstanding reentry in Thani Oruvan and an interesting act in Bogan sealed his place in the hearts of his fans. Amala Paul too had given impressive performances in the recent past like in Amma Kanakku and Thiruttu Payale 2. Adding to these, the original film in Malayalam starring Mammootty & Nayantara by the same Director Siddique was a hit. So, it was natural I expected an interesting watch with the comedy film Bhaskar Oru Rascal (2018). But it was a dampener from the start.
The story is supposed to be about two kids, each living with a single parent, plotting to get their respective parents to become interested in each other and eventually marry. The kids did their part brilliantly, and they ensured I watched the film in its entirety. But I can’t say the same for rest of the film. There was complete lack of any kind of chemistry between the lead pair of Arvind Swami and Amala Paul, coupled with an outdated screenplay, and an identity crisis of whether to be a comedy or a thriller or a family drama, the film struggles.
Chemistry exists or it doesn’t, and I think casting is a very underappreciated component of filmmaking – Director Bennett Miller
It is not only that the casting had failed, even the definition of the characters felt incomplete. I am still struggling to understand how the son (played by Arvind Swami) of a super-rich businessman (played by Nassar) is uneducated, uncultured, drives an Audi car but leaves the first two buttons of his shirt open, yet have all the attributes of a hero – to be kind-hearted and be a fighter. Lastly, most of the conversations in the film felt to be happening inside of cars, which was obviously not moving.
பாஸ்கர் ஒரு ராஸ்கல் (2018)
Comments