Movie Review: Anwar

A bomb blast rocks the city of Kovai. The target is a famous clothing store. A lot of innocent people are killed. ATS officer-in-charge of the investigation, Stalin Manimaran(Prakashraj), orders for rounding the suspects. The Muslim suspects are arrested. The chief ingredient of the bomb was transported from a chemical company based in Kovai. As a result, Ayesha(Mamta Mohandas), the engineer who signed the out pass for this consignment is also arrested. The final arrest is made in Kochi where Babu Sait(Lal), a prominent Muslim leader of dubious background, is taken into custody.

An year later, Anwar(Prithviraj) is arrested by the cops for hawala dealings. He is taken into the same jail where Babu Sait is imprisoned. Anwar is heckled by the Hindu gang inside the jail. On provocation, Anwar beats them up singlehandedly. Since these guys have the support of the jail officials, Anwar is tortured by the jail authorities. Babu Sait is impressed by Anwar’s courage and ferociousness. Babu Sait slowly takes Anwar under his wings. The rest of the movie tells us the motive behind Babu Sait.

This movie is written and directed by Amal Neerad. There is nothing new to offer story wise. You can figure out the mystery from miles away. On the technical front, the movie is excellent. During fist fights, people do not get thrown back after getting punched. But, Amal’s villains get thrown back like as if they sprouted wings and started flying. The entire sequence is shown in slow motion in such a way that there is a suspension of disbelief and you are in awe of the way in which the scene is shot. Amal is ably supported by the Satheesh Kurup(camera) and Vivek Harshan(editing). There are plenty of scenes in the movie which are picture perfect. The background score by Gopi Sundar is good but tends to get too loud at times. The weak story and the pace works against the movie. The best scenes of the movie are the fight with Pork Shaji and the final fight in the beach. The fight in the beach is akin to a poem being recited slowly yet clearly by the poet.

Prithviraj suits the character as Anwar is young. Moreover, he is also comfortable in doing action. On top of it, Amal has a penchant of portraying heros in a glamorous way. So, Prithviraj has everything going for him. He also leaves a mark in the second half of the movie during the flashback and after the flashback. Prakashraj rises above the script to deliver Stalin Manimaran. The rest of the cast is okay.

Wait for the DVD.

Language: Malayalam

Genre: Action

Rating: **

Picture Courtesy: http://www.anwarthemovie.com/

Tags: Movies,Prithviraj,Mamta Mohandas,Prakashraj,Lal,Amal Neerad,Action