Review: Sakhavu is entertaining but at almost three hours is a bit of a snoozefest

Indian film actor Nivin Pauly. Anna Nielsen for the National

Sakhavu (Comrade)

Director: Sidhartha Siva

Starring: Nivin Pauly, Aishwarya Rajesh, Aparna Gopinath, Althaf Salim

This political drama set in Kerala, sees actor Nivin Pauly donning three different avatars — the small-time party worker Krishnakumar, the young Sakhavu Krishnan and the septuagenarian Krishnan.

Krishnakumar is a young party worker with an ambition to make it big in politics, and is prepared to do it at the cost of hurting or crushing his peers. He is in the midst of plotting to beat up his friend, a fellow party worker, when he is sent to donate blood at the hospital.

He goes there half-heartedly, accompanied by his lackey Mahesh, and tries to throw his weight around until he realises the person in the ICU he is there to donate blood for, is a very senior and well-respected comrade.

From this point onward the movie swings between the past and the present. Sakhavu Krishnan is an intelligent, hard-working, moral, selfless and humble leader who plays a major role in unifying the workers in Peerumedu, a small hill station in Kerala, and ensures they get their rights.

Krishnakumar is told various stories about Krishnan by friends and family, which inspire him to be a better sakhavu.

The film has its heart in the right place, and while the message it wants to send out is noble, the execution definitely could have been better.

It feels like it drags on post-interval, as the director goes to considerable lengths to establish Krishnan’s greatness.

The heavier, preachier parts in the film are nicely intertwined with humour, which comes mostly from Mahesh (played by Althaf Salim), who makes an impact even with a small role.

There is no faulting the cinematography in this film. Through the eyes of the cinematographer, George C Williams, the little town of Peerumedu is presented as idyllic.

Entertaining in parts, a few dialogues and scenes have been put in to bring in the bells and whistles, which were lapped up by the audiences.

Nivin Pauly does a good job of switching between the two characters, but his performance is let down by the scripting. It is strange to see a character that is so selfish and immoral, turn a new leaf over a course of a day.

With better editing and a shorter run time, this would have been a far superior movie. At a running time of 2 hours and 44 minutes, sadly it errs on the side of a cinematic snoozefest.