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Classmates review
Classmates
Review :
'Classmates' - campus film with a
difference
By Paresh C. Palicha, Indo-Asian News Service
Film: "Classmates"; Cast: Prithviraj, Indrajith, Jayasurya,
Narain and Kavya Madhavan; Director Lal Jose; Producer: P.K.
Muraleedharan; Music: Alex Paul. Rating :
* * * *
Director Lal Jose has come out with an interesting film this
Onam. "Classmates" is about a group of students coming together
on their college campus after 15 years to
commemorate the wishes of a deceased friend.
We are first introduced to P. Sukumaran (Prithviraj), a
haggard-looking diamond merchant from Mumbai with an overgrown
beard, then comes Pious (Indrajith), a suave, goatee-sporting
gentleman who has come down from the Gulf with his family for
the reunion.
Tara Menon (Kavya Madhavan), a popular dancer, joins in. MLA
Satheesan (Jayasurya), a wily and ambitious politician with his
personal assistant Vasu (Vijeesh), who is also a student of the
same batch, makes an entry.
The last to make an appearance is the quiet girl Rasiya (Radhika).
These are the main players in the story. They have gathered here
for the inauguration of an auditorium dedicated to the memory of
their friend Murali (Narain), a talented
singer - and the son of faculty members of the college played by
Balachandra Menon and Sobha Mohan - who had died in the college
hostel.
On the night of the get together, Sukumaran is found strangled
by Murali's guitar strings. Has he tried to commit suicide or
was it an attempted murder?
The story then moves back and forth in flashbacks to show us
differences between the lead players. This device works well in
parts as it is unevenly treated.
The film depicts the upheavals in the campus affecting the lives
of lead players and playing havoc with their destinies.
But somewhere along the way, debutant writer James Albert shifts
gears and takes the suspense-thriller route that culminates in a
solution to the mystery behind Murali's
death.
Maybe it is a trick played to flummox the audience, but somehow
the effort fails to excite.
Another jarring note is struck by the turnaround in the
relationship of Sukumaran and Tara.
Jose, who is known for his flourishing style and technical
finesse, does a good job. Though he has shot almost the entire
film on a single location, we do not feel the
monotony because of Rajeev Ravi's competent cinematography.
"Classmates" tells a campus story with a difference, and it is a
well-narrated tale.
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