MOVIE REVIEWS

Duplicate, A time pass Entertainer

Many comedians have cashed in on their popularity and landed up doing lead roles in the films. But history suggests that these comedians never succeeded in the lead roles and ended up no where.
Looking at this history, it seems popular comedy star Suraj Venjaramoodu has not been signing the lead roles being offered to him since a long time now. But now it looks like the actor has changed his mind as he has decided to work in the movie Duplicate to be directed by debutant Shibu Prabhakar. Amritha and Maithali will be the lead actresses in the flick. The film produced by Ajoy Sebastian under the banner of Scion International Film Factory .The movie hits on screens on 19th September, Saturday with a supriseable rush in theatres.
'Duplicate' is an undemanding movie, but it's as much unjustifiable and unnecessary as well. Suraj Venjaramood's debut as a lead actor is mostly a hit and miss affair, with the misses outnumbering the hits by far.
"Duplicate" begins as the story of Sivankutty (Suraaj Venjaramoodu), a young guy living in a village and trying his best to perpetually ward off people to whom he owe money. He has to make some money and clear off his debts and then take marry his uncle's daughter Meenakshi (Roopashree), while his uncle Pattalam Keshavan (Lalu Alex) is up in arms against their love. Sivankutty's constant companion is his paternal uncle P.Suresh (Innocent), whose sole aim in life is to get drunk all the time. It's into this situation that barges in Jeevan (Suraaj in a double role), a look-alike of Sivankutty, who accidentally happens to take Sivankutty's place while Sivankutty happens to reach Jeevan's house. Jeevan in fact is a rich guy, but one with his share of problems. How the two guys' lives get entangled and what all happens then forms the plot of 'Duplicate'. There are a few decent ticklers in the first half that has us in splits. It's an irony that they do not have anything to do with Suraj though. But the moments are enjoyable, and tremendously so. Sadly, this momentum that the film gains initially, is never maintained and as the half way mark comes up on screen, the 'twist' that we last saw in 'Maya Bazaar' suggests that things wouldn't be as amusing in the latter half.
As expected, after the first hour the smattering of laughs too disappear, and the film slowly turns out to be quite awkward and uncomfortable. The crime scene is forced, and it's frequently a tedious disappointment. Riyaz Khan does sort things out, but the way in which he does makes you wish that it was just another joke hurled at you, aimed right at your chuckle nerve. 'Duplicate' is all duplicate; there's nothing original about the subject. We have seen it so many times before. And there is nothing spectacular that happens during the development of the plot either. Subject-wise, treatment wise and on the performance side and technical side, the film is replete with flaws of all kinds. There is nothing that would make you call the film a good one. With Suraj as the hero, chances are that you may not expect much beyond a comedy caper. But here's a nice film with slick visuals and a tight, averagable script. The film has been packaged brilliantly and it is genuinely entertaining. Songs penned by Santhosh Varma, Anil Panachooran and Suresh Kaavil and set to tune by Alex Paul are all far from impressive. Shani Khader's script is just average. Some of these sets give the impression that that they are made for television promos and to fill in comedy shows with the clippings.
In the final outcome, debutant director Shibu Prabhakar deserves a pat on the back for being courageous to have Suraj in the lead but, lets us down with the content.