Aavesham: Mighty Malluminati

Illustration/Uday Mohite

I have not roared and laughed aloud in a theatre in a long time, as I did watching Aavesham (Rage), a rip-roaring Malayalam film (with English sub-titles) directed by Jithu Madhavan. The whole theatre was roaring too, with excited fans taking selfies with the end credits! When did you last see that in a theatre, boss? Aavesham is a hilarious action-comedy. It is very violent, yes, but it has no interest whatsoever in low hanging fruit like Bollywood's mere maar-dhaad actioners. Its violence is at many registers - hilarious, intelligent, smart, and even poignant, because its gangster hero Ranga craves love rather than fear. And just love from regular chaps, like three paavam college going boys, not even romantic love - hell, there's not even a token heroine to do an item number and vanish, Bollywood-style. The film is a Deadpool-style spoof of popular action films - and I lerved Fahadh Faasil's (FaFa's) little throwaway macho chin-caress, Pushpa-style (FaFa also stars in Pushpa-1).

The film is about the unlikely friendship between gang boss Ranga (Fahadh Faasil) and three young college boys Aju (Hipster), Bibi (Mithun Jai Sankar) and Shanthan (Roshan Shanavas). They are stripped and thrashed by their seniors, so they befriend a real goon in order to straighten out their tormentors. Aavesham is set in Bangalore; Premalu is a Malayalam film set in Hyderabad, and Manjummel Boys is set in Kodaikanal, Tamil Nadu. The usual ploy to draw audiences in multiple states, is by having a star from another language film industry, but again, Aavesham is not interested in low hanging fruit, choosing instead, the much tougher route of a screenplay and dialogue that brilliantly plays on three languages - Malayalam, Kannada and Hindi - with some terrific laughs.

Fahadh Faasil plays Ranga as a goon archetype to the hilt - spotless white clothes, "Abu-Dubai" level gold chains and rings, macho moustache, aviator shades - who goes through a wide character arc, from boisterously vicious to quietly poignant. And he has a loyal sidekick Amban (Sajin Gopu, wonderful). Soon, the boys reluctantly find themselves part of his violent raids, and want to quit... but can they? The film explores the grey area from the admiration of a goon to revulsion: too much goonness. Jithu Madhavan's screenplay has many layers and contradictions: There's a poignant moment when Ranga shares an Insta reel by whatsapp, of himself, suggesting he has two sides to him - sweet and eager to please v/s violent goon. That scene deftly establishes the motivations of the lead characters, paving the way for an unpredictable and deeply satisfying corker of a climax, that detonates the macho action hero stereotype. The reason Ranga takes a shine to the college boys - presumably they are something he could never be - is only hinted at, yet, we feel its full emotional weight.

Madhavan's direction, in only his second feature after Romancham, a horror comedy, is absolutely assured, even while skating on thin ice of character contradictions. His screenplay is also brilliant. Ranga is Da Boss, but he won't do any fighting himself, he remains an action director instructing, "Break his leg, smash his head," because of a Mommy syndrome. Despite being an action comedy, the film also has solid emotional drama. And it makes savage fun of action tropes - a grand "hero entry" scene set in a urinal, aiyyo!, barroom brawls, sab kuch, even a hero towel dance, haha. Even when he adds a populist dumb charades game, it has emotional layering. He also mocks popular mother tropes, another staple of Indian cinema. Fahad Faasil is in excellent form, deftly showing a wide-ranging character arc. But this is really an ensemble film, with meaty enough roles for the three boys, Sajin Gopu and Reddy (Mansoor Ali Khan) a rival goon. Sameer Thahir's cinematography is superb, as is Vivek Harshan's editing, despite its 2h38min runtime. Sushin Shyam's music is terrific and offers a range of songs, along with Vishnu Govind's sound design. The producers are Nazriya Nazim and Anwar Rasheed, in association with Anwar Rasheed Entertainment and Fahadh Faasil and Friends. The women crew include producer Nazriya Nazim (actress, producer and Faasil's wife) and production designer Ashwini Kale.

The English subtitling is vera level, as the Tamilians would say. Pro tip: Any Malayalam or regional language films releasing outside their home state, please insist that the exhibitors clearly specify if it has English subtitles on bookmyshow, listings and posters, and watch your audience grow. There are ferociously good graphics for the title and end credits. Adipoli! Am itching for the sequel already.

Meenakshi Shedde is India and South Asia Delegate to the Berlin International Film Festival, National Award-winning critic, curator to festivals worldwide and journalist.
Reach her at meenakshi.shedde@mid-day.com