Movie Review : Boat
A group of people try to escape from the coromandel coast in 1943, when a Japanese bombing takes place in World War 2, in Kumaran's ( Yogi Babu) boat. They are his aged mother Muthumari ( Kullapuli Leela ), Narayanan ( Chinni Jayanth) Lakshmi (Gouri Kishan), Raja Mohammed ( Shara), Muthiah ( MS Bhaskar) Lal ( Chaams). Each of them are from different parts of the country who have all come to Madras.
The inmates encounter several dangers midway.
In the mid sea, suddenly they discover a burnt boat and to thier utter surprise a British officer Irwin Thomas ( Jessi) jumps into the boat and threatens them with a gun, to take the boat in the direction he wants.
There comes news on radio that terrorist is on board the boat which is now sinking because of a hole in the boards caused by overload. A fight ensues between the Britisher and Kumaran.
To add to their ways a giant shark comes their way. A terrorist is also supposed to be on board.
What happens to the boat and its passengers?Do they reach safety? Who is the terrorist?
The story has an interesting premise. But the way it is executed doesn't manage to hold one's interest for long. Though the cinematography is superb and the bgm steers you in the direction the story is going, the film doesnt manage to establish an emotional connect with any of the characters, except for with Yogi Babu and his mother, who do touch a chord with their dialogues and scenes. Yogi Babu has been given a different avatar than his usual, which is a highlight of the film.
Every actor amongst the 10 on the boat has been given importance to convey a certain stance and on various social issues that the modern day viewer can relate with. But there seems to be stereotyping in the way characters are presented, in a way that one can almost predict the counter dialogue crib another character. Certain scenes look staged, to put forth viewpoints or historical facts.
Though there is tension in the air, due to factors like overloading, a gun wielding Brit who shouts " I am the ruler" and a leaking boat and dangerous shark around, that tension is not conveyed satisfactorily to the viewer. The film seems more of a social commentary than a nailbiting thriller about the fate of 10 people stuck mid sea. Though the premise is interesting, it could have done with better dialogues which convey the tense situation in more credible manner.
Gouri Kishan leaves a mark as does Madhumita. MS Bhaskar stands out, though the Indian thatha angle thrown in seems to trivialise the cause a bit.
The second half of the film picks up the pace with a lot of action and twists. Watch out for the climax.
Rating 2.75/5
CAST:
Yogi babu as Kumaran
Gouri G Kishan as Lakshmi
M.S.baskar as Muthaiya
Chinni jeyandh as Narayanan
Madhumitha as Vijaya
Sha Ra as Raja
Jessi as Irwin Domas
Kullapuli Leela as Muthumari
Akshath as Mahesh
CREW:
Production Company - Maali and Maanvi Movie Makers & Chimbudeven Entertainment
Producer - Prabha Premkumar
Co-Producer - C.Kalaivani
Writer & Director - Chimbudeven
Music - Ghibran
DOP - Madhesh manickam
Production Design - T.Santhanam
Editor – Dinesh Ponraj
Art director - S.Ayyappan
Executive Producer - Vel.Karuppasamy
Make up - Pattanam Rasheed
Costumer - Sai – Shiva
Colorist – G.Balaji
Vfx –DTM Lavan Kusan
Stunts- Sakthi Saravanan
Sound Design and Mixing - S.Alagiakoothan – Suren.G
Publicity Designer – Bharanidharan Natarajan
Co Directors - Vel.Karuppasamy – Bala Pandian - Yatra Srinivassan
Associate Director – Demurra
Assistant Directors – Naveen,Pa.Krish,Nishanth,Gangadharan, Siddharth
Production Executive - S.Krishnaraj
PRO - Nikil Murukan
