Time

Language : Malayalam
Director : Shaji Kailas
Producer : Gopan
Camera : Rajaratnam
Story : Rajesh Jayaraman
Screenplay : Rajesh Jayaraman
Dialogue : Rajesh Jayaraman
Lyrics : Giresh Puthenchery
Music : Rahul Raj
Release : 2007 May 19
Cast : Suresh Gopi,Vimala Raman,Padmapriya,Manoj K Jayan, Siddique, Lal, Vijaya Kumar, T.P Madhavan

Time, Shaji Kailas' latest film, is different from his recent films. Though it is well-made, there is something wrong with the storyline, and that is likely to distance the average viewer from the film and hamper its commercial prospects.

Time begins from where ousted Minister Krishnan Nambiar is interviewed on television, followed by a statement by social activist-cum-writer Susan Mary Thomas that she and her group 'Disha' would see to it that the corrupt ex-minister is brought to book. Shortly afterwards Krishnan Nambiar is murdered. And when the investigation, done by a Police Officer named Alexander Mekkadan, doesn't seem to reach anywhere, the Chief Minister decides to call in someone else. And that someone is Dr. Appan Menon I.P.S, who is the Managing Director of the Civil Supplies Corporation.

Dr. Appan Menon is different from usual IPS Officers and has a strange and passionate kind of affection for his wife Vaiga, whom he calls up every now and then. He doesn't appeal much to Alexander Mekkadan, but the latter cooperates none the same. Appan Menon begins his investigation from Susan Mary Thomas and 'Disha' and seems to be moving on the right track. Soon another person is killed. This sets the ball rolling. Appan Menon's premonition about the next victim proves right and a third person is killed.

Their investigations lead Appan Menon and Mekkadan to Durgadasan, a revolutionary whom they follow and arrest. At about the same time, Susan Mary Thomas, who is by now an admirer of Appan Menon, happens to visit his house, planning to meet Vaiga who is living there. She is in for a startling discovery. She becomes more interested in Appan Menon and procures his diary to take a peep into his past. From here the story takes a new turn. We are taken to Sivaganga and Appan Menon's childhood where he had been brought up by his very strict father Viswanatha Menon. The happenings in his childhood and his budding romance with Vaiga are all etched out as we move towards a totally unexpected climax.

Suresh Gopi is his very usual self and is no doubt the perfect choice to do the role of Appan Menon as well as Viswanatha Menon. He handles both the roles in his characteristic style and does justice to both. Vimala as Vaiga too is good while Padmapriya does well as Susan Mary Thomas. The others in the cast like Siddique as Alexander Mekkadan, television anchor Parvathy as Susan's mother, P. Sreekumar as Raman Nair, who is a manager-cum-caretaker in Appan Menon's house, Manoj K. Jayan as Durgadasan, Lal as the psychiatrist Dr. Srinivasa Iyengar- all have done justice to their respective roles. Saikumar's character and the related developments seem boring, though he is impressive and good-looking.

Cinematography, editing, art direction and music are in tune with the theme and jell perfectly with the story and the tempo. Rajesh Jayaraman, who had earlier done the script for Moonnamathoraal, has improved and is in full control of things here. But still, he fails to maintain the tempo that he successfully builds up in the first half of the movie. In the post-interval section the film meanders into new tracks and the climax, though unexpected is very much like many Shaji Kailas films you have seen before.

The climax doesn't impress as much as it was intended to. You leave the theatres saying that the film is good only up to the interval. The post-interval section is too crammed-up and stretchy and the average audience won't like it. And that would prove problematic to Time at the box office. But still, the lead player Suresh Gopi, the director Shaji Kailas and the scenarist Rajesh Jayaraman deserve to be appreciated for having been in control till the very end. The film may not negatively impact their career graphs. It might even do them good. The same may not be the case for the producer.

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