Movie Review: Four Friends

Amir(Jayasurya) earns his living by scalping movie tickets and using muscle power for anyone with the right price. On one such occasion, he is involved in minor scuffle with Soorya(Kunchacko Boban). Soorya is seeing a girl in his college and her brother does not approve of this relationship. So, her brother pays Amir to roughen up Soorya. After being attacked, Soorya is throw off balance and hits the ground. Then, his nose starts bleeding. When the bleeding does not stop later during the day, Soorya’s parents are worried. When they consult the doctor, Soorya is referred to Dr Nandakumar(K B Ganeshkumar). When Soorya is diagnosed, Nandakumar identifies blood cancer.

Soorya is admitted into Dr Nandakumar’s hospital. In the hospital, he comes across Gouri(Meera Jasmine). She is also a cancer patient who harbors hatred towards the world. At an early age, Gouri lost her mother. Her step mother and step brother have always ill treated her with her father as a helpless bystander. Soorya also meets Amir in the hospital. Amir is also a cancer patient. Very soon, Roy(Jayaram), another cancer patient, is also admitted in the hospital. Roy, a multimillionaire, has a different outlook of life. Slowly, Roy forges a bond between Amir, Soorya, Gowri and himself. They decide to live life to the fullest. The rest of the movie shows the changes in their life.

Saji Surendran directs this movie which is inspired by “The Bucket List”. The movie fails to impress as it ineffectively focuses on the melodrama and reduces the movie to a badly made stage drama. The only thrilling moment in the movie is Kamal Hassan who appears as himself during the interval and stays onscreen after the interval for a very brief time. The background music is too loud even though there are glimpses of promise. The comedy track by Salimkumar and Suraj Venjaramoodu evoke giggles but fails to give a hearty laugh.

None of the actors have risen above the script to deliver a great performance. There is only one sequence when the lead actors perform very well. That is in the presence of Kamal Hassan. The long speech by Kamal Hassan, urging the protagonists to fight against cancer is inspiring. It inspires because the speech contains snippets from his real life – about Satyan, Srividya and Gouthami. Also, Kamal dramatically pauses his sentences, eagerly looks for affirmation from the other actors, modulates his voice in his characteristic style and effectively plays with his eyes and eyebrows. All this topped with his flawed Malayalam makes the sequence enjoyable.

There is nothing in this other than Kamal Hassan. Watch the “Kamal” sequence in youtube and avoid this movie.

Language: Malayalam

Genre: Drama

Rating: *

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

Tags: Movies,Jayaram,Kunchacko Boban,Jayasurya,Meera Jasmine,Kamal Hassan,Saji Surendran,Drama