Chaaver

Chaaver had good intentions and a great message to pass along, but the tedious storytelling sadly punctured the beauty of this film

DELICIOUS

-One thing that Chaaver is extremely rich in is symbols!

From the opening scene that zoomed in on a mouse getting ready to eat a roach to Pablo Neruda's poem

-It was encouraging to see the theme of loyalty present across characters

-The photography added a plus to the storytelling with engaging camera movements and placements that were as curious as we were.

-It was quite interesting that the four goons all came from different faiths. Without being a spoiler, when you understand the intent of their murder, it kinda makes sense why they were selected

BLAND

-The storytelling was regrettably slooow and unengaging😭 The movie only got a boost toward the last 20 minutes, this was obviously too late.

The scene sequences seemed detached: one moment we were introduced to Ashokan and his partners and another one we were taken to Arun and his mom who appeared cold toward each other.

The lack of a parallel plot made the scenario redundant and the long scenes impaired the beauty of this film

-The everpresent ominous score made it look as if something gripping was going to happen but nope, we only saw Ashokan and his partners driving and driving in their car😔

-As Chaaver carried an important message, inspirational and thought-provoking dialogues could have been crafted to make it memorable

Joy Mathew has a tendency to make his scenarios tedious as he did with 'Uncle', so sad that we witnessed the same pattern with Chaaver...

It's a film that makes you realise, how you have a different taste in films. Chaver is a " Slow burner " by Tinu Pappachan which has not been explored in Malayalam cinema much often.. rather than the story movies highlight is it's masterfully done cinematography and background scoring.. that just gifts us with these heart breaking moments. The film request it's audience to ease in to the fate awaiting it's characters.. Arjun Ashokans character felt like a representative of the audience who are also innocent to the world of "Chavers " and as he is dragged into it so are we into a reality we have been unaware of or ignored. Oppose to public opinion Pepe's Character was perfection and it was awesome to see the actor in a new light.. the climax reminds us of " Varathan " movie but different. Over all its a film for the stoners, lonely people and those minds that love to get lost in simple things...

I could sense the enthusiasm with which Tinu Pappachan wanted to deliver this film - it was evident throughout, maybe a tad too much. As a one-liner, I feel Chaaver is a film with potential. But whatever I saw in the film scene-by-scene, the excitement fizzled out early on. The route the screenplay chooses to take is treading the beaten path, with negligible attempts at character development and building emotional depth.

There are feeble efforts to make a character's death feel sad and remorseful, and the thematic use of Theyyam (as an art form) to amplify these feelings unfortunately doesn't hit the mark. On the other hand, there are commendable efforts made on the visual front and the cinematographer (Jinto George) seems to have worked overtime to capture those incredible night shots. However, the excessive use of slo-mo proves to be a dampener. None of the characters stick, and even when Kunchacko Boban manages to look the part (of a no-nonsense ruffian ready to spill blood for his political party), the writing renders him just as inconsequential as the rest.

Arjun Ashokan's character is one that involuntarily gets embroiled in this mess, though I couldn't find one solid reason for him to be tagged along with this motley crew. He could've just been dropped at the next junction for all I care (after the ruckus we see), and nothing in the film would've changed. The political backstabbing and casteist angles are predictably weak, and they don't add much to a film that already appears worn-out while getting to its finish line. Justin Varghese's score is fantastic though, and without it, I'm guessing this would've been an absolute snoozer.

P. S. I'm pretty sure Tinu Pappachan will bounce back from this. This wasn't his comfort zone, and unfortunately, Joy Mathew's writing failed to back him up.

The theme of the movie is violence stemming from political rivalry has long plagued Kerala's conscience and this persists even today. With numerous people from various outfits losing their lives in organised attacks and retaliations, the state has an extensive history of such incidents This movie had no main story. A 10 minute story makes 2 hours story with lagging. Total tragedy movie. Visuals are incredible. A veriety of movie musically visually theyyam based, but the main fault is story line. They might keep atleast good story line while making this movie. Tinu Papachan can direct a mega serial like this story line.

Having heard more negative reviews about the movie, we went in for the movie with much negative expectations, since it was booked in advance. Chaaver is a brutal story revolving around the party thugs who were betrayed after a planned murder by their higher political cadet.

Had much expectations about Tinu Pappachen because of his earlier outings were a feast in theaters. He didn't disappoint in terms of the shots, camera works, excitement, background score but was clueless to deliver a complete package because of the wafer thin plot.

The beauty of the Kannur was nicely captured with amazing visuals and more of an innovative cameraworks. The camera movement and placement needs an applause. Justin Varghese music and the performances of Kunchacko Boban, Arjun Ashokan, Manoj KU, Sajin Gopu and the extended cameo role of Antony Varghese were the saviour of the movie. Tinu should have cut down the runtime of 128 minutes to 90 or 90+ movie which would have been made this wafer thin plot more crispier. The last gun combat was absolute nonsence with more slow motion shots which was actually a waste of time and tiring.

Positives

• Cast and their performances
• Camera
• Music
• Visuals

Negatives

• Script
• Lengthy
• Slowmotion (during the climax gunfight)
• Tiring

My verdict is 04 on 10 and is avoidable in theaters.

If it comes to OTT, try x1.5 times which may entertain you.