The real estate boom, the growing involvement of the mafia in the building business, the nexus between builders, the underworld and greedy politicians -- these real life trends have in recent times provided grist for filmmakers looking to craft mass entertainers.
Debutant director B Unnikrishnan follows down the well-trodden path, in Smart City, with Suresh Gopi in the lead.
The premise is an ambitious plan drawn up by the government of the day, in partnership with Dubai Internet City, to create a fully wired 'smart city' in Cochin. The plan had been stalled by the Opposition parties of the time; the wheel has now come full circle and that Opposition is now part of the ruling coalition.
The finance minister, played by Shammi Thilakan, tries to revive the project, with the dubious intent of turning the land acquired for the project into a luxury housing complex.
Opposing him is Sekharan (Murali), an aging mafia kingpin who had helped the earlier government to acquire the land, under the belief an automobile factory would be set up that would provide employment for local youth.
Shekharan's empire is overseen by trusted aide Madhavan (Suresh Gopi), who succeeds in stopping the finance minister in his tracks. That triggers a flat out war, with great bouts of blood letting at regular intervals right through to the climax.
The mandatory 'sentiment' is provided courtesy the two leading ladies, Lakshamy Gopalaswamy and Gopika, playing Sekharan's daughter and Madhavan's adopted sister respectively. The former is married to a seemingly honest Town Development Officer (Jayasuriya) who turns out to be the villain of the piece; the latter is romancing the brother of the City Police Commissioner (Siddique).
For once, Suresh Gopi is relatively subdued, less manic than his wont; he emotes better than he is known to in such action oriented films. Then again, those occasional English outbursts remain, providing moments of unintended amusement.
Murali is back in a full length role, and about time -- he effortless portrays a character that merges the tough with the gentle, the rough with the smooth. Shekharan, Murali's screen name, could well be deliberate -- Murali used that name for his character when he played Gopi's mentor in the film Pathram.
Manoj K Jayan is a totally over the top villain; Siddique is his usual competent self. Jayasurya has almost nothing to do, though he does have a song with Gopika that will feature quite regularly on the small screen.
B Unnikrishnan does a decent job on debut; to his credit, he has given Suresh Gopi a film that is a few notches above the actor's recent efforts such as Pathaka and Bada Dosth.
Rediff Rating: 
