Innale Vare

Really enjoyed the movie, acting and story. Not one of Sanjay Bobby's best script but not bad too. The movie goes along well but felt it drag in between. One time watch.

Jis Joy is a director who has come under a lot of flak and ridicule in recent times for his insistence on portraying only the goodness in people in his preachy, feel-good earlier films like "Vijay Superum Pournamiyum (2019)" and "Mohan Kumar Fans (2021). It was a pleasant surprise when he announced his first foray into the thriller genre and with a star-studded cast including Asif Ali, Antony Varghese and Nimisha Sajayan, audiences had hopes that this project would be a turnaround for the director who gave us gems like "Bicycle Thieves (2013)" and "Sunday Holiday (2017)", at the beginning of his career.

But alas, "Innale Vare" is engaging only in parts and comes across as disjointed and contrived in large portions, failing to keep the audience invested in any of its three lead actors. That they were played by three seasoned performers puts the blame squarely on the tepid direction and the unimaginative screenplay, who fail to do justice to a good story idea fashioned by accomplished writers Bobby & Sanjay. The pace of the film is uneven, slowing down inexplicably in insignificant portions and racing through several clutch sequences while the thrills are too few and far between.

The story follows the journey of "Adhi" (Asif Ali), a struggling film hero who becomes involved in a extortion racket perpetrated by two mysterious strangers. While Asif predictably, makes the best out of the sub-par screenplay, Nimisha Sajayan shines in a role very different to what we have seen her portray on screen. Antony Varghese however, gets dealt a bad hand, with an underwritten and barely-there character that doesn't utilize the caliber of the actor at any point. Rony David and Irshad are reliably efficient in their supporting roles while Reba Monica John puts in a mature performance.

While the director's attempt to stray away from his core genre and experiment with an unconventional storyline is commendable, the execution was clearly lacking in this one. It is hard to see a very capable actor like Asif Ali deliver yet another sub-par film after a string of misadventures like "Ellam Sheriyakum (2021)", "Kunjeldho (2021)" and "Kuttavum Shikshayum (2022)" . Hopefully, his upcoming projects like "Mahaveeryar" and "Kotth" brings back the charming performer we have all grown to know and love. Watch "Innale Vare" at your own risk!

The movie has a decent story, very predictable with a good cast. It has its moments but it's somehow too much of a fantasy sort of a movie. Just out of nowhere things happen. As the title goes was happy 'Innale Vare' with the trailer but after watching the movie disappointed!

Jis Joy has attempted a dark-genre flick for the first time and despite his prowess, can't save the film from being a mess in the end. With his usual hero Asif Ali in the lead, Jis also collaborates freshly with Nimisha Sajayan and Antony Varghese, two of the most promising youth actors in Mollywood. All of the actor performances in the film are commendable but what falters is the screenplay. The film that lacks songs has a thrilling soundtrack by 4Musics and suitable cinematography by Bahul Ramesh. While the first half proved to be an edge-of-the-seat experience, the second half seemed needlessly drawn and makes you wonder how it will end. A surprise (intended) reveal in the climax didn't help either. This is also a film where you find politically incorrect behaviour from all the leads (irrespective of gender) so it is, basically, a fight between "evil and evil" (similar to what the protagonist in Lucifer (2019) labels in a scene).

Streams on SonyLIV. One-time watchable.

A brilliant thriller which is engaging right from the start to the end. You won't be disappointed even taking ticket for this movie and watch it in theaters. Bobby-Sanjay brilliance (which was missing in some of their recent films) is visible in this movie. It is scary how technology can be misused to make your life upside down; Won't be surprised if one delete all his/hers voice messages from their phone after watching this movie. Must watch.