Malayalam cinema sees its Youngsters' Club uniting in Lal Jose's Classmates, as young guns Prithviraj, brother Indrajith, Jayasurya and Narain (formerly known as Sunil) come together to give us a campus caper with a difference, mixing and matching numerous genres to tell the story.
There is lots going on, right from the start. Violence is the first thing established, before we are jolted with the realisation that it happened many years ago. From this point on, we know this is not going to be an easy, superficial film talking about achievements and disappointments of a generation in a hunky-dory manner. The film tries to bring out complicated individual relationships and emotions in a story peppered with mystery, mayhem and death.
A group of classmates reunite on campus after 15 years to commemorate the wishes of a deceased friend, but there are bad vibes and suspicions all around. We get to know the reasons behind them as the film moves forward.
We first meet P Sukumaran (Prithviraj), a haggard diamond merchant from Mumbai with an overgrown beard. Then comes Pious (Indrajith), a suave goatee-sporting gentleman who has come down from the Gulf with his family for the reunion. Thara Menon (Kavya Madhavan), a popular dancer, joins in. Satheesan (Jayasurya), an MLA, a wily and ambitious politician with his PA Vasu (Vijeesh), also a student in the same batch, makes an entry, and the last to make an appearance is the silent Rasiya (Radhika). These are the main players.
On the night of the get-together, Sukumaran is found gagged with Murali's guitar strings. Did he try to commit suicide or was it attempted murder?
The story then moves back and forth in flashbacks to show us fissures between the lead players. This device works well in parts as it is unevenly treated.
Sukumaran was a student leader with leftist leanings, and Satheesan was his rival. Pious is a happy-go-lucky guy with wealthy parents -- a typical skirt-chaser and Sukumaran's best buddy. Thara, the talented dancer, is the daughter of an MLA, first Sukumaran's nemesis and later his love interest.
How upheavals in the campus affect the lives of the lead players and how consequences play havoc with their destinies is on the agenda. But somewhere along the way, debutant writer James Albert shifts gears and takes the suspense thriller route that culminates with the solving of mystery behind Murali's death. Maybe it is a trick played to flummox the audience, but somehow the effort fails to excite us. Another jarring point is the turnaround in the relationship of Sukumaran and Thara --how much ever we try to ignore it as a small glitch, it keeps coming back to haunt us.
Speaking of the performances, all except Radhika, depicted as the silent sort, get to show varied emotions and everyone handles them deftly. Watch out for the chemistry between brothers Prithviraj and Indrajith, shown here as best friends. Some scenes are forcibly incorporated just to showcase that, but no one will complain as both of them are good at it. Jagathy Sreekumar as the priest with night blindness and the warden of the hostel succeeds in spreading some mirth.
Lal Jose, a director known for his flourish and technical finesse, does a good job. Even though he almost shoots the entire film in a single location, competent cinematography from Rajeev Ravi shields the audiences from that fact. The only area Jose should have tended more was the structure and the pacing.
On the whole, you won't be disappointed with the effort of Classmates. That is, if you don't go in to see just another Swapnakoodu or Nammal.
Rediff Rating:
More from rediff