Venue ~ TCR Ramdas
Showtime ~ 03:15 PM
Status ~ 20% (Max)
More than an year ago, a film called Neerali released which starred Mohanlal thats based on "survival drama" theme. The film failed to thrill or keep the audience interested with the sequences which caused the fiasco. These are the areas where Helen scored!!
1) Characters are established well so that the audience can connect well. In Neerali, the makers opted for the star's charisma to connect which backfired. Before the frozen incident, we know who is Helen, her lover, her dad and the supporting characters, the circumstances she goes through etc.
2) Smart Detailing. Helen's father Paul is shown as a chain smoker. This detail later went onto play a pivotal role in the movie and also added to the beautoful father-daughter relationship. Its a win-win situation. Or Helen and her co worker entering into the freezer. Even why Helen was reluctant to tell her dad about her lover.
3) An Eye for Small but Beautiful Moments. Neerali's subplot featuring Dileesh Pothen & gang killed the movie while in Helen, we see how a rat plays a big role in the emotional quotient.
4) Direction & Scripting was brilliant. Irony is both are debutante directors while Mathukutty Xavier displayed his brilliance, Ajoy was listless. The dialogues especially the climax were beautiful.
5) Pacing & Editing was perfect. No unnecessary scenes. Also they were able to create tension with some sequences.
The above 5 points were not there in Neerali. Only place both films shared equal points is the attempts to rescue/survive never looked filmy. Plus the performances from the actors sans Aju Varghese were good. The issue with Aju Varghese was he couldn't just deliver 100% justification to the character with his performance. I felt the relatively unknown actor who played as C:I outshined him completely.
Still the movie is not perfect!!
1) I felt the political message it shared was a bit forced. The makers can still make the film without using it. Even the cameo was part of that campaign.
2) That Vineeth Sreenivasan song which played in bits n pieces started to look irritating towards the end of the movie.
Overall, Helen is a recco!!!
Ratings - 8/10