Dileep is back. Critics may have chided him for obtaining material from his mimicry days, but it is in these roles that he has found his moorings -- be it the role of an effeminate or mentally retarded person, or a buck-toothed hunchback.
The actor's new venture, Chess, had an air of anticipation surrounding it as he was supposedly playing a blind man in a revenge saga. The latter element was in place when the film hit theatres, but the blind act was just a publicity gimmick. We aren't complaining though, as the final outcome hasn't been totally disappointing.
The premise of the film directed by Raj Babu is surely revenge, but it is Dileep who holds our interest.
It begins as any other Dileep film would -- establishing a comic tone. He is shown as the son of an illustrious dance teacher (Bindu Panicker), running a dance school in a remote place. He is the heart and soul of the place as far as running the school is concerned. He even takes classes as his mother is incapacitated by an accident giving writers Uday Krishna and Siby K Thomas a chance to poke fun at Dileep's earlier film Chandupottu. From here, the tale takes predictable twists and turns, with all the elements expected in a Malayalam film. Our man falls in love with a girl from a wealthy family, his parentage is questioned, etc., making us long for the revenge saga to begin. Once it does, our interest is aroused and Dileep does his best to keep it that way.
The aforementioned glitches are too many to be recounted here. First and foremost, the blind factor is just an act. If this fact were kept under wraps, it would have worked wonders. There are other major potholes in the script, but to mention them would amount to giving away the plot.
That leaves us with the only bright spot -- Dileep. With Chess, he has brought in a seriousness to his brand of filmmaking, the only grouse being that there should been a tighter script to support him.
Bhavana, as the love interest, has some significance in the beginning, but it is totally lost by the end of the film. Salim Kumar and Harisree Asokan handle the comic department proficiently. Ashish Vidyarthi, Vijayraghavan, Bheeman Raghu and Babu Raj play typical villains without too much of a fuss.
All in all, when compared to the disappointing fare being dished out over the last couple of months, Chess is an enjoyable movie.
Rediff Rating: 
