MOVIE REVIEWS

Bodyguard -Last in Siddique's hit list.

Hit maker Siddique has been away from Malayalam films for a while and he returns with a bang, Bodyguard. Dileep pairs up with Nayantara for the first time. In fact, she is in Malayalam after a pretty long hiatus. The film took sometime in the making and was originally planned for release in Mar 2009. Bodyguard was in news even before its release, when Tamil superstar Ilayadalapathy Vijay wanted to remake the film into his language, of course, with himself as the hero.
The film is set on a humorous backdrop and there are some funny situations which are intended to tickle the funny bone but what is lacking is a credible storyline. Still, the film has its own fine moments and has been made into an engaging watch.
Jayakrishnan (Dileep) has been fascinated by goondas right from his younger days and was working for some 'quotation' gangs as well. Sometime later, he decides to become the bodyguard of a wealthy and powerful man named Ashokan (Thyagarajan). He saves Ashokan's life at a crucial juncture and gets a new assignment - to escort the rich man's daughter, Ammu (Nayanatara), to college as her bodyguard.
Easily Siddiq's worst script till date, Bodyguard hasn't an inkling as to where it's headed. If moving away from his strong comic forte wasn't recipe enough for disaster, Siddiq dabbles with romance and burns his unsure fingers. The romance in the film is half baked, fake and out-and-out dull. This film could never even dream of being a love saga as most of the situations that it depends on to push the yarn forward are nothing short of obtuse. When the infamous railways station where almost all love tales wind up in Malluwood comes up, we breast ourselves for a dramatic climax. But what actually happens there in this case is almost unmentionable. I am not talking about spoilers here, I am talking instead of one of the most ridiculous twists witnessed in recent times that should leave an entire audience speechless, on account of its silliness. This isn't a twist really, it's a twist-till-it-snaps kind of a bombshell that makes the destruction complete.
Dileep as the Bodyguard is strictly passable; the actor has seen better days and certainly better scripts. Thankfully, he doesn't strut around perking up his muscles except to rake up some laughter, though he does flash the dragon tattoo on an almost-bulging bicep. Nayantara in her new size zero avatar looks drop-dead dazzling and definitely makes eye-popper material. Forget fascinating, there's hardly anything memorable going on here. Strikingly underwritten, Bodyguard suffers from a serious lack of imagination that drops it straight into a big black hole.
The story may not have many surprises, but the film has been packaged as an entertaining watch. With nice visuals and some really good songs, things become even more beautiful. Not in the league of his brilliant films in the past, but Siddique has made Bodyguard an average entertainer.