It seems Malayalam filmmakers are averse to any kind of change. In fact, they always try to pull down anything that is modern, be it cell phones, the Internet or call centres. They look at changes as something that drive the youth wayward! Their latest target is FM radio and RJ-ing, which director Shaji Kailas has done so in his film Red Chillies. He shows how middle class kids make easy money and get involved in vices like alcohol, drugs, sex and even murder.
The writer-director team of A K Sajan and Shaji Kailas has used the same mould of one of their older film Chintamani Kola Case with some cosmetic changes here and there, to tell the story of the film. In Chintamani Kola Case, the hero was Suresh Gopi. In Red Chillies it is Mohanlal. The circumstances and events too change to suit the setting.
OMR (Mohanlal) is a business tycoon based in Singapore, who has lots of business interest in Kerala. The latest amongst them is an FM station. He has hand picked nine talented girls to run it. He is about launch their first music album titled Red Chillies internationally. The launch party is on New Year's eve, the same day the girls get entangled in a multiple murder, drunk driving and drug abuse case. They become fugitive and it is up to OMR to rescue them and safeguard the reputation of his empire.
OMR, the enigma lands in Kochi and takes on his foes and the system single-handedly. To rescue the girls from the clutches of law, he becomes a lawyer. For others, he is an omnipotent business magnet. He occupies the place of a deity in a household and is called the Supreme Protector by the master of that house.
Mohanlal looks dapper in stylishly trimmed beard and hairdo. He carries himself well. One just wishes that his character was given more depth instead of an external makeover. Thilakan shines in the role of a staunch communist leader who is against OMR's empire spreading it's tentacles in the state. The film is full of typical Shaji Kailas style technical razzmatazz, which sometimes dilutes the theme and makes us feel that there is not enough substance in the story. Even the quality of the sound is very poor.
Final words: These Red Chillies are not hot.
Rediff Rating: