Roudram

Cast: Mammootty, Manju, Lalu Alex, Saikumar, Vijayaraghavan, Rajan.P.Dev, Janardhanan, Shammi Thilakan, Subair, T.P.Madhavan, Jayakrishnan, Spadikam George, Maya Moushmi, Urmila Unni.
Language: Malayalam
Banner: Marikkar Films
Director: Renji Panicker
Producer: Shahul Hameed Marikkar, Anto Joseph
Camera: Sanjeev Shankar
Story: Renji Panicker
Screenplay: Renji Panicker
Dialogue: Renji Panicker
Music: Rajamani
Distribution: Marikkar Release
Year: 2008

Renji Panicker's second directorial venture is here. And on day one, the film has sent ardent fans of Mammootty into loud applause and uproar at all screening centers, indicating that the film is going to make an impact at the box office.

Roudram is all that a Renji Panicker film should be, with the typical Renji kind of punchy dialogues (that you have been seeing in films like Ekalavyan, Sthalaththe Pradhaana Payyans, Commissioner etc, which Renji had scripted) and the typical Renji brand of characters.

Roudram has as the hero Narendran, a firebrand cop, who does his duty unflinchingly and without making any kind of compromise. He has as his role model none other than his father, who too had been in the Police Force and had been killed while on duty.

But Narendran's uncompromising attitude makes him a thorn in the side for many in the force including higher-ups, and hence is constantly transferred from place to place and forced to move frequently with wife Prabha and his ailing son. Prabha, who had been a lawyer, had quit her profession because of her husband not being anchored to any one place.

Narendran comes to Kochi and soon after taking charge there, is entrusted with the job of investigating a murder case. One Kambilikandam Jose is found killed, hit by a lorry. Though it seems to be a hit and run case, there are people believing it to be murder. Narendran is put in charge of the case.

As he goes deeper into the case overcoming all kinds of hurdles, he comes face to face with the people behind the murder, all of whom are well connected and wield a lot of influence. He also comes to know that a charitable institution named Karunyadeepam too is involved in something that had led to the murder of Kambilikandam Jose. The plot progresses thus to a predictable climax.

Mammootty is superb as Narendran and does full justice to the role, eliciting loud applause from his many fans. New girl Manju as Prabha renders able support, though she doesn't have much to do in the film. Saikumar, Vijayaraghavan, Rajan P. Dev, Laloo Alex and others too have done their respective roles well. Renji's dialogues, as usual, are crisp and peppered with one-liners in English.

Cinematography, editing, artwork and Rajamani's background score are all in tune with the mood of the film. One thing to be noted is that Renji makes action films with the minimum amount of action. He mostly uses dialogue to create the action mood in his films - verbal action, in which he passes muster.

There is much less of reference to current political issues in Roudram, compared to his earlier films (which include the many films for which he had penned the script). To sum up, Roudram will appeal to Mammootty fans, as also to those who like seeing such investigative flicks. And it's Mammootty all the way from beginning to end.

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