A scene from ‘Grrr’ | Photo Credit: Goodwill Entertainment/YouTube
Grand ideas often sound good on paper, yet they come with the risk of massive failure. Employing Mojo, a real lion, is one of the grand ideas at the heart of this film. Grrr.The second attempt is to extract humor from the survival scenario, as this film was branded as a ‘survival comedy’, whatever that means. It may be challenging for the audience to survive such a comedy of errors.
Perhaps, the makers expected the lion to have the strength to carry the film, as they forgot to focus on some important tasks like writing an engaging screenplay. Beyond the basic plot shown in the trailer, nothing is written with conviction. One can understand the plight of a man trapped in a lion’s den.
‘Grrr’ (Malayalam)
Director: Jay’s
Mould: Kunchacko Boban, Suraj Venjaramudu, Shruti Ramachandran, Anagha, Rajesh Madhavan
Runtime: 121 minutes
Plot: Regimone jumps into the lion’s enclosure at the zoo when his girlfriend Rachana doesn’t show up on the day they were supposed to elope and get married, and begins a campaign to save her.
Rejimon (Kunchacko Boban) jumps into the lion enclosure at the zoo after his girlfriend Rachana (Anagha) doesn’t show up on the day they elope and marry her. It’s not suicide, but a drunken outburst. Bizarrely, it’s also an attempt to prove his bravery to the girl who questioned his courage to fight her politician father and his goons. The zoo guard (Suraj Venjaramoodu), who is caught up in his own family troubles, also falls prey to the man’s foolish actions.
Filmmaker J.K., who debuted with the moderately impressive horror film EzraIt seems his standards as a filmmaker have gone down several notches. Grrr. There are few strengths in the film that could have made it better. Given the limited budgets of Malayalam cinema, the animatronics and VFX work involved in filming a real lion and blending it seamlessly with the performances of real actors must have been a herculean task. However, the effort goes waste in the film.
From disjointed scenes to humour that falls flat and a dull background music, several aspects go wrong Grrr. There is an attempt to add a dose of politics and caste dynamics. However, it is done half-heartedly and thus proves ineffective in saving the film which wanders aimlessly between the lion’s den and the high-decibel television drama outside. The humour that results from the mistakes of the officers also does not work. Talking about the talented cast, most of them seem to be doing their bit, but their acting ability has not been used much.
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Grrr The film turns out to be a forgettable attempt at mixing the survival drama and comedy genres. The poor lion deserved better.
