Review: Sevenes meets expectations

Paresh C Palicha feels that Malayalam film Sevenes is not a typical sports story or even a young romantic tale but it does meet expectations. Post YOUR reviews here!

Malayalam cinema is showing signs of revival since quite a while now. The subjects being chosen by filmmakers are unconventional and don't depend on star names anymore.

The latest film to join the list is Sevenes, directed by veteran Joshiy, starring Kunchacko Boban, Asif Ali and a brigade of young actors along with Nadia Moidu who appears as a senior police officer.

The film is based on the popular 'seven a team' soccer played particularly in the Malabar region that is very professional.

Sevenes written by Dr Iqbal Kuttipuram (of 4 the People and Arabikatha fame) tells the story of seven young friends led by Shyam (Kunchacko Boban), who only play for the team. The crux of this film is to show how gullible youngsters who wish to make a fast buck are lured into organised crime.

So, the plot goes like this; Shyam and his team hurt the star of a rival team portrayed by Vineeth Kumar, who is fighting death in a hospital. He is in need of an expensive brain surgery. So Shyam and his friends take up a quotation job (in crime parlance) at the behest of Habib (Maniyanpilla Raju)

of clearing a disputed site occupied by another gang of goons. One thing leads to another and they are embroiled in more and more criminal activities.

If you are looking for depth in the story, you may be disappointed. Dr Kuttipuram's story reminds you of Tamil Madurai stories particularly the cult classic Subramaniapuram, though there is no comparison on the surface. Even the blood and gore are subdued as we are dealing here with lower middle class educated youngsters who aspire for a better lifestyle.

The only grouse as far as the scripting goes is, it takes a long while to tie all the loose ends and give a typical 'all is well if it ends well' climax. On the positive side, there are no separate romantic or comic tracks; it is all in the composite story.

Gowri (Bhama) as the romantic interest of Shyam who is the first trigger for the violence vanishes in the middle. Even the presence of Rima Kallingal as Vineeth Kumar's sister and the subject of affection for the character played by Asif Ali is not fully utilised.

Kunchacko Boban and the gang are a serious lot even though there is humour sprinkled in the dialogues and it cannot be treated as full blown comedy.

Finally, Sevenes meets our expectations of a youth film even though it is not a typical sports story or even a young romantic tale.

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