Gokul E

I watched the FDDS at an IMAX theater in Bangalore. I went for the hype and the claim of it being the first Malayalam movie on IMAX build up - but was left wondering what just happened? Firstly, the video was only ‘optimized’ for IMAX and not shot on an imax camera nor was there anything worthy of an imax experience - I also noticed black stripes at the top and bottom of the imax screen - what a gimmick! really, nothing worthy of imax! Letdown#1. Secondly, regarding the movie.. the first 30 minutes was cinematically gripping - it seemed like the movie was doing well even without Mohanlal! And after 53-54 minutes, Mohanlal’s intro was good - probably the only good part of the 3 hour shipwreck that was to follow! Hour2-3: There were too many country locations, it was obvious they spent money and traveled around but the story was so poor, the acting average and scenes were just showing too much of random stuff. The order was chaotic. Other mentions: Manju Warrier was not impressive - her facial expressions were non-existent and it felt bland. The Lucifer1 story continuity was lacking.. Tovino’s character arc was cut short and poorly written! There were un-necessary scenes with other L1 actors adding no real punch to the L2 story. Anyway, keeping all that aside, let’s talk Mohanlal. Being a huge Mohanlal fan, it was such a let-down from Mohanlal - his only role is some cliche slo-mo walking scene and some philosophy talk mid-way of the film. (Murali Gopi fails as a film writer!) Prithviraj who promised to bring out the legendary acting of Mohanlal’s and showcase Mohanlal’s acting caliber really fails and falls hard with Empuraan! And Ab’ram Quershi was a joke - it is good for trolls and memes! Mohanlal feel for Prithviraj’s flattery. Mohanlal’s expressions and prime is long finished and have vanished over the last 10+ years. With all the above said, the film makers did great marketing, created controversy using a sensitive national issue, debates and free news channel promotions got people to watch it. The producers might break even on the investment. Gosh, Empuraan was a 225+Cr disaster!

Overhyped. Below average. Laggy. Time waste.

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The visual effects and performances were good. However, the makers of the movie showcased Kerala as if only a few Christian families were affected and Jesus saved them! When you had the chance to showcase the unity of people and show no religious divide, (the Kerala floods actually brought people together without bias) this director due to the myopic viewpoint showcased only his version and injected his Christian agenda in every other scene! In a subtle but obvious manner! Could’ve been way better due to the sensitive topic.

Pace of the movie kept it engaging it throughout. Delivers on the promise. Script is king, bgm is catchy and is suitably placed at all junctures, choreography, VFX is awesome, acting is brilliant and the editing is excellent! Worth the hype it is getting in gold! Hats off to the Kannada Film Industry and the team for putting together this masterpiece across multiple languages and countries! Watch it. Period.