Silence Review from Rediff!

Paresh C Palicha says Silence is the first attempt at serious film making from the writer-director team of Y V Rajesh and V K Prakash and have made a decent attempt.

Watching Mammootty play a legal eagle is always interesting. May be because he is a qualified lawyer in real life too. Director V K Prakash seems to know this fact well and uses it to his advantage in his new film Silence.

Written by Y V Rajesh, this legal thriller has taken its inspiration from a couple of Hollywood films to make a highly watchable film.

Arvind Chandrasekhar (Mammootty) is a very successful lawyer, who is appointed judge in the Bengaluru High Court. He is the youngest person to achieve this distinction. Before taking the oath, he visits his parents in Kerala. There he is harassed by an anonymous caller, who says he is not fit to be a judge. At first he thinks it’s a prank played by some friend or a rival.

But things get serious when his wife and children face dangerous situations supposedly created by the same caller. So he tries to dig into his past to see if he has made any mistakes or unintentionally hurt anyone.

He uncovers the mystery in the beginning of the second half and sets out to correct his past mistake before assuming charge as a judge.

The first half moves at break neck speed. But the momentum is lost in the second half as Arvind goes on a fact-finding mission to find his mistake and correct it.

The film borrows heavily from the Richard Gere starrer, Primal Fear (1996).

Among the legion of supporting actors is Anoop Menon who plays a high-ranking police officer and a batch mate of Aravind’s in law college. He had a crush on Sangeetha (Pallavi Purohit) who later married Aravind.

Jayaprakash Kuloor is a Malayali priest and Joy Mathew plays Markos who wanted the judgeship that went to Aravind.

Mammootty gives a controlled performance as Aravind. His greying sideburns and moustache somehow add to his vulnerability.

Silence is the first attempt at serious film making from the writer-director team of Y V Rajesh and V K Prakash after low-brow comedies such as Gulumaal and Threekings.

It is notches above the previous attempts and highly watchable.

Rating:**1/2
http://www.rediff.com/movies/report/review-mammoottys-silence-is-worth-a-watch-south/20131209.htm

Silence Movie Review by NowRunning!

V K Prakash's 'Silence' has Mammootty playing Aravind, a vibrant lawyer who is all set to take office as a judge. The celebrations are on in full swing, when Aravind starts receiving phone calls from a stalker, who seems to know everything about him. Whenhis family is threatened, Aravind has no other option but to track the caller down and seek out his intent.

Y V Rajesh's script has a few thrilling moments in the first half and the film has a striking interval punch that sets the ball rolling on a thriller field. However, we see the script toppling down in the latter half, with a few loose ends hanging about here and there. 

Silence Pictures   12 Pictures

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'Silence', to be fair to the makers, does have its share of thrills, is slickly shot and keeps you perched on the edge of your seat - at least for the most part. Its collapse lies in the fact that the surprise comes perhaps a bit too early, and once the revelation is made, there is nothing much sturdy enough to hold the rest of the film together.

It has become almost customary these days, for every thriller film to have a psychotic character who would wreak havoc in someone's life, and 'Silence's is no exception. Psychosis seems to be the key factor here as well, and everything from a troubled childhood to a history of schizophrenia are dwelled on, but we have all seen it before. 

The shock moments that are so imperative for a film as this to get its moves right, are sadly what are missing here. The buildup is quite fine, and you get all perked up and excited, and when the final disclosure does not match up to the setting, the effects are catastrophic.

It's a shame really, since the film does show signs of immense potential during its initial few moments. A golden thriller premise is what it has on offer, and hence when you watch it tumble down like a pack of cards, you are disappointed and wish that things were indeed better.

One does wonder if it's at all possible to deliver a real exciting thriller any more, with almost all the possibilities explored by film makers across the world. And yet, films continue to be made; the ones that excite us, and which make our hearts skip a beat or two. 

The underwater scenes at the climax have been captured on camera remarkably well, and Mammootty does deserve an ovation for having done the action sequences on his own. Manoj Kumar's cinematography is slick, and suits the mood of the film to the 'T'.

Mammootty looks incredibly handsome with the salt 'n pepper look, and though the role does not throw any fresh challenges to him as an actor, slips into the portrayal of the troubled lawyer with remarkable ease. Basil does a neat job as well, and perhaps this should open up a vista of new opportunities before the young actor. Anoop Menon and Pallavi Purohit lend ample support in their respective roles.

I would still say this Y V Rajesh's best script till date, and with a bit more polish, he could have had a real winner in his hands. As of now, things are pretty much silent over here. So much so that you wish someone would at least let out a scream.

Rating:**
http://www.nowrunning.com/movie/14416/malayalam/silence/4500/review.htm