20 TIME OUT The Gulf Today / Thursday, February 22, 2007
BANK ON THE LAUGHS
DILEEP AND JOHNNY ANTONY HAVE COME UP WITH ANOTHER ENTERTAINER WITH 'INSPECTOR GARUD,' WRITES KK MOIDU
Starring: Dileep, Kavya
Madhavan, Vijayaraghavan,
Innocent, Salim Kumar,
Cochin Haneefa, Aiswarya,
Suja Karthika, Urmila Unni,
Harisree Ashokan, Anand and
Lalu Alex.
Director: Johnny Antony
Producer: Milan Jaleel
Lyrics: Vayalar Sarathchandra
Varma
Music: Alex Paul
Editing: Ranjan Abraham
Cinematography: P. Sukumar
Story, Screenplay and
Dialogue: Udayakrishna-Sibi
K Thomas.
REVIEW
Director Johnny Antony
and Dileep together
have given superhits
like CID Moosa and
Kochi Raajavu in the
past. Inspector Garudu is the director-
actor duo's third film and as
expected they don't disappoint, that
is if you are not expecting much
more than a routine comedy.
Dileep's career graph has been on
the downswing of late, with movies
like Don and Chakkaramuthu getting
the thumbs down at the box
office. But with this one he seems to
have regained his status as a crowdpulling
star. In this year's hit movie,
Inspector Garud, the actor essays
the role of a corrupt Circle Inspector
Madhavankutty aka Garud.
Madhavankutty (Dileep) joins
the Kerala Police force as a subinspector
through the back door by
paying 1.5 million as bribe. Within
three months of service he is promoted
as Circle Inspector. Moneyminded,
Madhavankutty has an
eagle's eye for opportunities to make
a fast buck. Hence the nickname
Garud meaning eagle.
The plot, typical of Johnny
Antony films, is easy to follow even
for kids. Agang of terrorists based
in Mumbai unloads a cache of
weapons in Cochin, fearing trouble
in Chennai. Karaikudi Arumughan
Palaniappa Chettiyar
(Vijayaraghavan) helps the terrorists
to hide the weapons in a busy market
in Cochin and entrusts Lonappan
(Salim Kumar), a drunkard with the
safe-keeping of the arms cache.
Unfortunately Lonappan misuses
one of the weapons and is nabbed by
the police.
Rajan Joseph, an honest Circle
Inspector (Lalu Alex), suspects that
the rest of the weapons are hidden in
the city. His team carries out a raid
and Chettiyar finds himself in for big
trouble. Market operators resist the
police operation and Chettiyar uses
the opportunity to get the crowd
caned. The raid is halted till the following
morning. Chettiyar seeks a
minister's help to have Circle
Inspector Rajan Joseph suspended.
As per the advice of his manager
Sivan Pillai (Kochu Premen),
Chettiyar gets the scam-tainted
Madhavankutty appointed as circle
inspector of Thevara police station,
which has jurisdiction over the troubled
area. Madhavankutty agrees to
help Chettiyar in shifting the
weapons to a safer place in exchange
for a hefty bribe. Madhavankutty cooperates
in the shifting of weapons
thus earning the trust of the crime
syndicate led by Chettiyar and his
son, Saravanan.
Madhavankutty maintains good
relations with the wealthy criminals
and petty thieves to feather his nest.
Things turn topsy-turvy when
Madhavankutty insults the sub-collector,
Sethulakshmi (Kavya
Madhavan), without realising who
she really is. As a result he has to
apologise to her in front of the
Women's Commission.
Madhavankutty plans revenge by
marrying her. Sethulakshmi's brother
is arrested on drugs charges and
Madhavankutty seizes the opportunity
to carry out his revenge. He
expresses his willingness to marry
Sethulakshmi and promises to
release her brother without charging
a case, if she marries him.
In order to save her brother and
the family from disgrace
Sethulakshmi agrees to marry
Madhavankutty. Though he marries
Sethulakshmi, Madhavankutty is
unable to carry out his plan. When
he demands more money from
Chettiyar he is handed a suspension
by his superiors. Once out of the
force, Madhavankutty realises that
the public was afraid of his position
and not him. This changes him forever
and for the better.
After a change of image in
action-thriller Chess, Dileep returns
to comedy and proves that his comedy
films will attract not only his
innumerable fans but also the larger
audience. Like Chess, for a considerable
part of this film too Dileep
plays a negative role. In Chess he
has a clean-shaven look but in
Inspector Garud he sports a walrus
moustache and thick sideboards.
In the first half, he is impressive
as the funny but corrupt police officer,
however, in the second half
towards climax, specially in the
action scenes, he is unable to
impress.
Kavya gets a break from her
usual village girl roles and has a new
look in place as a mature character
with spectacles and conventional
attire. She is convincing as the subcollector
in her 15th film opposite
Dileep.
Vijayaraghavan is well-cast as
Chettiyar, the uncrowned prince of
Cochin, but Harisree Ashokan and
Salim Kumar leave viewers with the
feeling that they could have been
more funny.
Others from the cast like
Innocent, Aiswarya, Shammy
Thilakan, Kalabhavan Shajon,
Anand etc., are competent.
Johnny Antony once again confirms
that his movies, especially
those with Dileep, are a safe bet for
producers. Johnny give almost
everyone in the cast an opportunity
to crack a joke. The script-writing
duo, Siby and Uday, who have written
the story and screenplay for all
Johnny Antony films, gives a new
look to this movie with a unique
script.
On the technical side, Ranjan
Abraham's editing and cinematography
by P. Sukumar take the film to
great heights. The song Kaanthari
Penne is a Johnny Antony signature
tune by Alex Paul. It reminds one of
the song Theeppori Pamparam in
CID Moosa. Another song from the
film, Kannum Chimmi Chimmi, is an
average treat.
This film is not for those of you,
who like serious movies. But if you
just want to pass your time Inspector
Garud could be the answer.
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