Movie review: IG (Mal, Apr 2009)

Movie review: IG (Mal, Apr 2009)

Film is a medium which you can use to communicate strong messages and concepts but it not always necessary to make a film to communicate your thoughts. There are many other effective ways to do that and that is exactly what happened to writer director B. Unnikrishnan’s latest offing IG. The film was supposed to be a dedication to the martyrs of the Mumbai attacks but fails to even create emotional or patriotic ripples in the audience.

The film fails to appeal in all departments. I did not find anything striking in any of the facades associated with a film. Unni had some truths to be communicated and the script was tailored to present these messages. The screenplay is shabby and loosely knit. I have always felt and believed that film makers should understand their strong areas and focus on mastering those rather than trying to be the jack of all trades. Film is a collaborative effort and hence the product gets benefited much from the many masters associated with it rather than the many rolling stones associated with it. I thin k Unni also faltered at the same point where many writer turned directors have faltered.

Direction is not his forte. He is a good script writer and his script can be enhanced and visually empowered by a strong director. This was much evident from TIGER which he scripted and left to Shaji Kailas to visualize. That is what lacked in IG. The direction was below average and not at all appealing. All the departments associated with the film performed badly and could not build the power required for the film’s mileage. The plot lacks logic and makes a fool of the viewer. The entire script is clichéd, clichéd and poorly clichéd.

Suresh Gopi looks very obese and disfigured. He looks disinterested in the whole proceedings. There are some multilingual dialogues which Unni has scripted, tailored for Suresh Gopi to perform but apart from those, Gopi looks totally wasted. I thin k Gopi should really focus on his physique and get back to shape at the earliest else not sure how he is gonna perform in his masterpiece roles in the days to come.

The dialogues lack clarity and the punch which one expects from such genre of films. The action sequences are poorly directed and are evidently poor. The shots are poorly set and many a times irritating. Cinematography was totally left to be improved. An actor of the caliber of Lakshmi was totally wasted in the movie without any respect being given to her stature.

The youngster actors who performed the roles of IG’s brother and his lover are promising performers of the future. John Kokein is wonderful as the antagonist. He has repeated his LIS act and has immense screen presence. He is a very promising budding performer. Nandini was also good in her cameo.

I think Unnikrishnan should really focus on writing scripts which has substance. Script writing is his forte and not visualization. His first venture, Smart City also had the same fate. Patches of the script of SC were good and the same is the case with IG. He has lost the mileage which he could have obtained by the success of Madambi. After viewing IG, I am forced to believe that Madami was a fluke from Unnikrishnan, even though I want to give him due credits for that.

My rating for IG is *

*****Landmark

**** Excellent

*** Worth a watch

** Avoidable

*Disaster