Review: Lal Bahadur Shastri is run-of-the-mill

Malayalam film Lal Bahadur Shastri offers few chuckles, says Paresh C Palicha.

A day in the lives of protagonists who cross paths at one point in a film has become a popular template among new-age Malayalam filmmakers.

Rejishh Midhila's Lal Bahadur Shastri, starring Jayasurya, Nedumudi Venu and Aju Varghese as Lal, Bahdur and Shastri respectively, is no different.

Except, maybe, for the fact that the film's tone is more humorous as compared to others film of this kind.

Lal (Jayasurya) is a good-hearted man about to turn 30, but unemployed. He wants to be a government employee, even if only as a driver.

His innate goodness is conveyed in his concern for a Pomeranian hit by the auto rickshaw he is riding in on his way to meet his future bride.

Bahadur (Nedumudi Venu) is an alcoholic who carries vodka in a bottle of water so that he can take a swig whenever he likes.

The two meet in a crowded KSRTC bus, travelling from the pristine Kuttanad to the big bad Ernakulam city.

They buy a lottery ticket each, sold by a child (National Award winning Master Minon. One expected a warning sign to pop up on screen saying that child labour is illegal, but nothing of the sort happened).

The lottery tickets bind them together for the rest of the day.

Shastri (Aju Varghese) joins the other two halfway through the film by a quirk of fate or, should we say, the fancy of the director.

He has been making rounds of the city to get the government-announced compensation for farmers who have incurred heavy losses due to floods.

One of the lottery tickets sold by the kid, and misplaced by Lal, becomes the pivot of the story as the three run around trying to find it since it has won the grand prize of Rs 1 crore.

It reminds one of Money Ratnam where Fahadh runs around with a bagful of money for a day.

Sandra Simon, who makes her debut as the leading lady, has nothing to do here except look amused and utter a single line of dialogue once in a while.

Lal Bahadur Shastri is a run-of-the-mill venture that offers few chuckles and laughs.

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