Producer : P.K.Muralidharan and Santha Murali
Director : Joshiy
Cast : Prithviraj, Narain, Bhavana, Samvritha Sunil, Jayasurya
Music : M.Jayachandran
Cinematography : Shaji
Story, screenplay,dialogues : Sachi-Sethu
Review by : Unni / www.Kerala9.com
Ratings : 3/5

Hit-maker Joshiy comes up with a very youthful kind of action flick, which is very much likely to work well with the youth as well as the family audience. And it’s interesting to note that the makers have given the catch-line for the film as ‘Prince of Thieves’, reminding us of the Kevin Costner film too, with which it of course bears no resemblance.

‘Robinnhood’ tells the story of Venkitesh Iyer alias Venky (Prithviraj), who teaches physics in a coaching centre by the day and robs ATM’s by night. His kind of thieving is rather hi-tech; he gets everything pertaining to accounts in a particular bank, the IBI bank, and that includes the 16-digit code on ATM cards and the secret PIN code too. And then he makes fake ATM cards using mobile recharge coupons. The police, led by a young ACP (Jayasurya), are investigating the case, but Nandakumar Menon (Biju Menon), who is the executive-director of the IBI bank, brings in a private investigator, the young Alexander Felix (Narain). Felix does his investigation staying in the bank’s guest house, which is in fact a flat adjacent to that of Venky. Roopa (Bhavana), who is the systems head for the bank in Mumbai, joins Felix as an assistant in his investigation. Soon Venky, Felix and Roopa become close friends. Felix however feels that the person behind the ATM robbery is a Robin Hood kind of guy with some justifications to his doing and also begins to feel that there’s something fishy about Venky.

The film should not in any way be compared to the trendy films that are being made in Hindi or Tamil (let’s forget Hollywood). But as a film that has been made in Malayalam and with a budget that suits a Malayalam movie, ‘Robinnhood’ is an acceptable kind of entertainer that could appeal to at least some section of the youth and the family audience as well. It’s not an utterly bad film.

Performances

Prithviraj is a good choice to play the lead role and does justice to it. Narain is good as Felix and turns very much impressive towards the end of the film. Jayasurya doesn’t have much to do while Bhavana is OK for her role. Samvritha plays a modern girl and is just about OK, with nothing much to do. Biju Menon is good, but has nothing new to do, performance-wise. The rest are all OK.

Technical aspects

Cinematographer Shaji, art-director Joseph Nellikkal and editor Ranjan Abraham, who have of late come to be favourites of director Joshiy, have done their parts perfectly well.

Music

Rajamani’s background score suits the mood and the tempo of the film. Coming to the songs (by the Kaithapram-M.Jayachandran team), the film could very well have done without the songs too. A couple of them seem to have been put in very deliberately, just for the sake of it. Moreover Joshiy seems to be repeating himself these days as regards the songs and song picturisation.

Script

Sachi and Sethu, the scenarists who had scripted the hit film ‘Chocolate’ seem to be in control of things here too. Of course some, especially those who are too critical, may see the situations as rather fake and unrealistic, but what all ‘Robinnhood’ provides you is exactly what you expect out of it.

Direction

Before commenting on the direction side, here’s something, some kind of a disclaimer. Those who have been fans of Joshiy films (like ‘New Delhi’, ‘Nirakoottu’, ‘Kauravar’ etc) should never expect ‘Robinnhood’ to be a film of that genre. Times have changed. Many directors of Joshiy’s age and generation are now out of the fray. It’s really a surprise and something worth appreciation too that Joshiy has managed to change with the times and retain his sway on the box office too. His name flashing on the screen does elicit loud applause even now, though his films have changed much in the last few years. Joshiy has succeeded in making what he perhaps intended to make. Everyone knows that nowadays it’s the youth who form the majority of film viewers in Kerala. Hence the safest bet is to make a film for the youth. Joshiy has succeeded to a great extent in doing this, though there may be some flaws to point out. But the veteran of many hits has done an almost neat job of ‘Robinnhood’.

Overall verdict- Youthful action film, for the family audience too.
Rating: 3/5

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