Chembada

Cast: Bala, Sreedevika, Kalabhavan Mani, Aravind, Anu Anand, Sonu, Abu Salim, John Jacob, Raju S Nair, Ronson, Vincent
Language: Malayalam
Banner: Garden Films
Director: Robin Thirumala
Producer: Abdul Azzeez, Jagadheesh K Nair
Camera: Noushad
Story: M D Ajayaghosh
Screenplay: Robin Thirumala
Dialogue: Robin Thirumala
Lyrics: Robin Thirumala
Music: Robin Thirumala
Year: 2008

2008 has been a dismal year for Malayalam film industry with not many worthy offerings reaching the theatres. But Chembada the last release of 2008 takes the cake for one of the worst films of the year. Scenarist Robin Thirumala has put on the mantle of a director with this drab piece of buffoonery, which in fact hardly qualifies as a movie in itself!

The basic storyline of the film goes like this. 'Chembada' or 'Red Army' is a music band whose members have resorted to arms to loot and kill people after some sad incidents in their own lives. They completely act according to the orders of Captain, as their unquestioned leader has been christened.

Manu (Bala) soon joins them and to his surprise, he finds his former lover, Meenakshi (Sreedevika) as part of the gang. She had fled her native place after being gang raped by some rich men. Red Army comes together to take revenge on the baddies.

Even the Captain has to settle an old score with their common enemy. They all now start killing the villains, one after the other.

Even as these escapades happen, the band performs at various venues and become quite popular. But the cops, quite surprisingly, finds no method to nab them.

Every actor in the film is a stereo type and the lines that the characters speak are melodramatic to the core. There are more loose ends to the story than one can approve. The gang members are often dumb, villains are treacherous, the cops are idiotic and the women are often naïve enough to go all alone for a job interview at a farm house before a group of drunken men.

It's quite intriguing why no one associated with the film realized that the script of Chembada was just inept and insipid during any point of its making. To add to the woes of the viewers and perhaps to mock at those who actually took the pain to watch the movie, the writer-director appears before the camera in a mean act of self-promotion.

There may be good films or bad films but Chembada is nothing less than a shameless torture. The director never even tries to come up with a credible film and allows the cast, mostly relative newcomers, to ham without an end.

Even the lead pair comes on screen with wooden faces and the entire cast yells their dialogues as if they are reading it aloud from a boring text book.

The visuals and the stunts have some beauty in it, but even such good things get jaded after it is overplayed. Some of the tunes sound nice, but the quality of lyrics and the singers are major let downs.

With an amateurish script and unimaginative direction, Chembada is a faux pas in all counts. Let us sincerely hope that absolute fiascos like this one do not come out during the times ahead.

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