‘Adi’ movie review: A wafer-thin plot upends masculine ideas of revenge

Ahaana Krishna, Shine Tom Chacko in ‘Adi’

Revenge is passe, or so it seems going by how Malayalam cinema is churning out movies that portray revenge as being too old-fashioned, as something to which only the brainless, hot-headed men resort to. Ever since Maheshinte Prathikaram poured cold water on revenge with a clever, gentle take on it, there has been a certain shift in how our cinema looks at it, although there are glorious exceptions like Thallumala.

In Prashobh Vijayan’s Adi, the plot revolves around Sajeev (Shine Tom Chacko)‘s intense need to take revenge. It is no long-standing feud that causes this, but a road rage incident. More than the fact that he got beaten quite badly, what troubles him is that it happened in front of Geethika (Ahaana Krishna), his wife. It is his bruised male ego, rather than the physical injuries, that drives him. His adversary Joby Joseph (Dhruv), just like Sajeev, is someone oozing with masculine pride. “I am a man, right?” is the one line they both constantly repeat, before and after every act of violence.

Yet, from the way Sajeev is portrayed, almost as a caricature, one gets an inkling that this is not going to be a traditional revenge story, which will end with the two men fighting it out, and the hero having the last laugh. This feeling is bolstered by the fact that the script is written by Ratheesh Ravi, who earlier wrote Ishq, which despite its flaws, makes clear his views on the good old methods of taking revenge.

The wafer-thin plot, which does not have many other elements deviating from this central concern, is driven along by this expectation of revenge or something which could be a worthy replacement for it. It really has only enough material for an engaging short film, which is evident in those parts where the narrative gets stretched pointlessly, to make the film last till the surprise that is in store at the end. Although the climax is written in such a way as to deliver a message, the whole scenario which plays out inside a room in a beach resort also seems a bit contrived and mechanical, rather than an organic reaction from someone who lands up in such a peculiar situation.

Also Read:Aashiq Abu directorial ‘Neelavelicham’: Official trailer gets launched

A little side track looks at Joby’s doomed love story, which is not a surprise considering how he yells at the woman. He is only one step away from acting like all those men who won’t think twice about violently attacking the person who jilted them. The newly-wed Geethika, meanwhile, is bewildered by her husband’s antics. While the script gets the characterisations and their portrayals right, the same cannot be said about the attention that has been given to the plot.

Adi upends masculine ideas of revenge, but the sparse material gets stretched beyond breaking point in delivering this message.

Adi is currently playing in theatres.