Debutante Anzar Khan has all the good ingredients for a thriller film, but fails because of trite writing by Jeethu Joseph.
Vimal (Indrajith Sukumaran) and Mustafa (Biju Menon) are two convicts (tried for separate crimes) who are being transferred to a jail by few policemen in a police car. Chance makes their police vehicle crash and fall off a cliff into a dense forest, giving them an opportunity to flee. They, handcuffed to each other, do what they are expected to do, and soon kick up a conversation while on the run. Vimal tells his life story and asks Mustafa to help him find the man who is apparently the reason he was arrested for a crime he did not do...
The story is straight out of a the old crime thriller textbook where two convicts engage in a conversation as a method to unfold the story leading up to their arrest and subsequent escort to jail. Writer Joseph uses clichéd elements to form the narrative that looks heavily contrived. Most of the sequences are ahead of themselves, giving its viewers a bad feeling.
Typical dangers of the jungle (a snake here, a bear there), conventional quandaries, and the usual non-liner backstory-present story flip flop makes the film an engaging but a lose thriller. Viewers are going to be gripped but they probably know what's going to happen. The humor is fine, and so are the dramatic sequences involved in Vimal's backstory, but overall, they hardly hold much screen space. I personally couldn't predict the twist halfway in the film, but after that everything is kinda foretelling. You know what's going to happen (hint: the police are some lazy people!).
Both Sukumaran and Menon do a decent job with their characters. It fells like Menon was cast simply because of his deadpan dialogue delivery style so that he could induce comedy sporadically. His jokes are run- of-the-mill while Sukumaran briefly struggles to pull his character together. There is enough development about both the central characters, making the whole affair somewhat interesting. However, the climax is messed up, costing it a dear one star. Sshivada acts her part well.
Overall, Anzar Khan directs his cast well and sticks to Joseph's controlled screenplay. He definitely takes a lot of cinematic liberties, giving rise to a series of unanswered questions. Other than the awful CGI, there is nothing explicitly negative about the film, but as a fervent follower of Malayalam films, I wouldn't be eager to watch Khan's next. Nor would I be enthusiastic about Joseph's screenplays, now that he's succeeded doling out two turkeys in the last two years: he directed Life of Josutty (2015) and wrote and directed Oozham (2016).
BOTTOM LINE: Anzar Khan's "Lakshyam" is an average film that takes us through the lives of two convicts who are apparently good at heart but seem to be taking a lot of time to make decisions. Precisely two hours. Rent a DVD!
Can be watched with a typical Indian family? YES
