Traffic: Not to be missed

Paresh C Palicha reviews the Malayalam movie, Traffic. Post YOUR reviews here!

Those looking for an adrenaline rush can go and watch Traffic directed by Rajesh Pillai. The film has an ensemble cast with hardly any main protagonist. The character occupying the screen at the given moment becomes the lead.

Agreed that the basic premise may have been borrowed from many foreign films, still it is not a blatant copy of any one film and writers Bobby and Sanjay should be given credit for putting in indigenous lifelike situations that keeps our attention riveted on the screen.

The complex plot is about a day in the lives of a few people who are at the same junction at the beginning of the day, and how their fates get entangled as the day progresses.

We have Rehan (Vineeth Sreenivasan) a rookie TV journalist who is on his first major assignment -- a live interview with the reigning superstar Siddharath (Rahman). It has been advanced by a couple of hours at the whim of the star. He rushes early to the studio riding pillion on his friend Rajiv's (Asif Ali) bike.

Then there is the super star whose film is releasing on the same day his teenage daughter has to undergo a major surgery.

We also have Dr Abel (Kunchacko Boban) whose wedding anniversary gift for his wife -- a car -- has just arrived.

Then there is traffic constable Sudevan (Sreenivasan) rejoining duty after a brief period of suspension for taking a bribe.

The narrative goes back and forth building the character sketches of these people by weaving their stories together and showcasing the motives behind their actions.

Hats off the writers as there aren't any loose ends or any characters left in the lurch. The significance of the title comes to the fore after the initial build-up where there arises the need for controlling the traffic of the entire state for a couple of hours.

Even though the male characters dominate, the women do not seem to be short-changed in any manner. They are bold, with a mind of their own. Sandhya as Aditi, Rehan's divorcee girl friend, and Lena who plays Siddharath's wife, deserve special mention. Roma, who plays the boss of a radio station does not mind giving a dressing down to a male subordinate over the phone.

As mentioned earlier, there are no lead actors in this film in the conventional sense though each shine be it Rahman as a megalomaniac superstar, or Anoop Menon as the Police Chief. Asif does a muted role of a guilt ridden man who was party to a devastating tragedy. Sreenivasan is shorn off his trademark humour after the initial stages and Kunchako Boban is passable as a character with grey shades.

Overall, Traffic is a slickly made urban film that is pleasantly surprising. Not to be missed.

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