Monster Movie Review: A mediocre thriller saved by the usual Mohanlal factor

Monster marks the reunion of the much-celebrated team behind the industry blockbuster Puli Murugan. This time around, there seems to be a consensus among the group to push their clout and industry standing to try out a run-of-mille crime thriller that gloriously fails at being either entertaining or an engaging piece of a mainstream big-ticket project.

Monster is the latest entry into the canon of Udaykrishna screenplays that are basically designed and constructed on the abused template of the pre-climax reveal that’s supposed to sideline a lazily plotted, leisurely structured screenplay like his earlier duds like Masterpiece, Aaraathu and many more. The film reads like a pulpy, dated murder mystery that is forced into the sphere of revival with a sanitized version of new age concerns, presented in the most insincere and shameful manner, in a last-ditch effort at being relevant in its plastic social commentary.

The first half feels more like a formality in the routine intrigue setup we are used to in our stale crime dramas, where a stranger enters the life of a group of unassuming individuals and tries to fit in with his joyous and lovable antics. However, this done-to-death conceit soon gives way to a clumsy second half that nosedives into a convoluted mess. The filmmaking is functional in that sense that Vysakh can’t even pull a trick or two from his sleeve to rescue this sinking ship, as the writing never lets the film remain afloat in the first place.

Lucky Singh (Mohanlal) is a free-spirited man who is visiting Kochi for a day, on a personal errand and the film deals with his abrupt entry into the life of a jovial family, Anil (Sudev Nair) and Bhamini (Honey Rose), on the day they are celebrating their first wedding anniversary along with their little daughter, from Anil’s previous marriage. As expected all things go awry with a crime and its ensuing investigation. All this reads like material suitable for a coherent and sensible thriller, working as a real-time whydunit but the makers had a different read on the whole setup.

Mohanlal sleepwalks through the role and never for once looks really captivated by the functional rendering of his lines and his towering presence on screen. Honey Rose does a fairly one-note part that is slightly pushed to cringe-worthy moments thanks to some of the dreadful dialogues in the latter half. Lakshmi Manju gets the tonality of the movie and delivers an aptly modelled performance. 

Monster feels like an extension of Ranjith’s 2015 debacle Loham, compressed into a single-day, compact thriller sans any thrills or shred of entertainment. The whole LGBTQ aspect of the film is shot and covered without an iota of subtlety and layering and we are forced to cringe at many of the well-meaning line readings posturing as empowerment of a particular community that has long been relegated to the sidelines. 

Name: Monster

Director: Vysakh

Cast: Mohanlal

Rating: 2 / 5