Dubai

Cast: Mammootty, Biju Menon,Vijayakumar, Anjala Saveri, Preeta Vijayakumar
Language: Malayalam
Banner: Anugraha Cine Arts
Director: Joshi
Producer: V.B.K Menon
Story: Ranji Panicker
Screenplay: Ranji Panicker
Dialogue: Ranji Panicker
Lyrics: Gireesh Puthenchery
Music: Vidyasager
Distribution: Kavya Chandrika Release
Year: 2001

Kept in the cans for more than two years, the much awaited film Dubai which was expected to hit its chartbusting strides all over Kerala, where it opened this week with an unprecedented 45 prints, is an apparent let down for the cinephiles. As there is a low turn out of audience during the very first week of its release, this mega misadventure is likely to to be doomed to oblivion. If it happens, this film will be an eye opener for the producers who embark on multi crore projects risking thier money at a time when the cost of production of a super star film has skyrocketed from one crore to 2.5 crores. This film fails to live up to the expectations caused by the pre-release publicity hype and media blitz that it is the biggest film ever to hit the Kerala screen hoisting hopes in an industry that has been hitting the trough lately.

Shot entirely in U A E, Dubai tells the story of a business tycoon (Mammootty)who has touched the dizzy heights, the power tussles he confronts in his business empire and the ego hassles between high powered money driven lobbyists, who spend the lion's share of their life time to pull the rug off from under each others feet. The plot unfolds when Swaminadhan's (Nedumudi Venu) financial institutions which have borne the brunt of frenzied borrowing runs into rough weather. Disguising himself as a saviour, Victor (Cochi Haneef) his long time associate betrays him on the pretext of helping him to overcome the hurdles and legal impediments.

The story takes a serious turn with the barbarous killing of Swaminadhan and his wife (Urmila Unni) which hurt Ravi badly. In the meantime, Kishan Bhatta draws up a diabolic game plan to play the role of a mighty intervener in the bitter rivalry between the Union Minister K J Nair (Janardanan) and Ravi Mamman.Caught in the vortex of power tussle, Ravi is forced to face a series of problems as their diabolic schemes are afoot to jeopardise the prospects of his business empire. Adding to his woes, Chandran Nair (N F Varghese),a friend turned foe joins the group of Kishen Bhatta and helps him to carry out the nefarious designs aimed at Ravi Mamman. As usual, the film ends when the villains are finished off.

Despite their presence throughout the film, Anjala Savery and Preeta Vijayakumar do not provide oomph as the song sequences featuring them have been cut away in order to reduce the length. The songs by Gireesh Puthencheri are mediocre and so is the music by Vidyasagar. Mammootty's amazing skills in dialogue cross fire do not come alive in this film as there is no room for boisterous bombastic verbal explosion, because of the backdrop which has nothing to do with contemporary Kerala politics, the favourite domain of Renji Panikker.

Joshi should desist from aping the Bollywood formula of the past two decades even as the mainstream cinema in Hindi is trying to be diffreent after the spectacular success of some off-beat films like Lagaan and Chandni Bar.In Tamil, the new breed are eager to explore fresh and uncharted territory while the established filmmakers in Kerala are sticking on to the much repeated storyline and treatment.

Joshi, who rose to fame with some domestic dramas like Aa Rathri and Sandarbham was forced to switch tracks during the second half of 1980s which witnessed the emergence of power packed action flicks.With some massive hits like New delhi, Nairsab and Pathram to his credit, which left an indelible imprint on the market outside the state over the past two decades, Joshi is now trying to make only big budget films.Will the fate of this film teach him a lesson? This film has so far incurred charges of six core rupees by way of finance and interest.Will it fetch up to this?

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