Movie review 'Masala Republic': Too difficult to digest

Cast: Indrajith, Sunny Wayne, Mamukoya, Aparna Nair

Rating: **

The film takes its name from pan masala and revolves around the ban of the substance by the state government and how that proves catastrophic for the labourer community of Bengalis who cannot do without it apparently. The basic premise of the movie is sound; that any such ban only helps engender illegal trade and increased ensubstance abuse.

But the treatment is confused and oscillates between satire and realism, and it doesn’t take long for the confusion to infect the viewers too. Nothing exemplifies this more than the central character of Shambhu, played by Indrajith. Is he a caricature or really a brave though headstrong officer who plays for the galleries or both? Though there is nothing greatly wrong with the way Indrajith acts, his talent is more or less wasted in this movie.

The strict Shambhu is in charge of the Anti-Gudka Force and goes on the rampage against Bengali labourers who are the main (ab)users of the substance. He tries to catch the big fish behind the mafia but finds there is only small fry. Certain scenes are clearly for the laughs, who can take seriously an officer who goes searching for his prey under water off the Gujarat coast? But debutant director Visakh struggles with the pace of narration and also how to fill the frames for an hour and three quarters.

One aspect that irritates is the over use/dependence on the small screen theme to take the narrative forward. Granted, the idiot box is a big influence in our lives and many of us watch the inane news discussions whether we like them or not. But harping on it only creates an unpleasant viewing experience. A popular political commentator, advocate Jayashankar, makes frequent appearances to offer political wisdom and they seem like fillers more than anything else.

The labourer influx into the state is a subject that has novelty but a political satire is not something easy to pull off without a very good script, sharp dialogues and excellent actors.

In the end, it is just a masala movie – politics, humour, song-and-dance sequences and mercifully no fights – that fails because none of the ingredients are top class and therefore what is dished out is difficult to digest.