Rajeev Anchal, the Malayali director bitten by the
Hollywood bug, has touched Kerala shores for a change. His new bilingual
film "Made in USA" starring Madhavan, seen for the first time in a Malayalam
film, has hit the theatres. It has been shot on high-definition digital
format by a technical crew from Hollywood -- those are the points on
which the film has been marketed.
But once you leave the darkened hall, you feel a sense
of delirium, confused about what the filmmakers tried to convey.It is
the tale of an orphaned youth with suicidal tendencies treated by a
Malayali psychiatrist in Las Vegas. The thin storyline has been so padded
that it leaves you numb by the end.
Robby (Madhavan) is an orphan, who has migrated to
Las Vegas at a young age and is working in a casino for livelihood.
He is very good with money and his friends entrust him with their earnings
for safekeeping.But he loses his friend's lifetime earnings, triggering
latent suicidal tendencies. He is admitted in a local hospital where
he comes face to face with a funny psychiatrist played by Sreenivasan.
The movie then goes on and on in the claustrophobic interiors of the
hospital till the penultimate scene.
It
is not clear whether the director's pro-life views successfully come
across, because there is overuse of humour. It seems as if the director
is looking down upon people who take the drastic step without empathising
with them.
On the other hand, the audience often feels that it
is the humour that is holding the narrative together. It would otherwise
be staid and boring.The screenplay by journalist Bobby Nair leaves a
lot to be desired. The main grouse against him is the stereotypical
characterisation of Sreenivasan and Innocent.
On the histrionic front, Madhavan tries to put the
requisite intensity into his performance but his dubbed Malayalam fails
him. The roles of the two female actresses, Kaveri and Neha, are not
etched well. They get no scope to showcase their capabilities.Technically,
this film is plainly mediocre. Keith Gruchala's camerawork does not
get us involved in the proceedings.
Rajeev Anchal is one director who has tried to take
the crossover path from the Malayalam filmdom. "Made in USA" is a part
of that attempt, but here he has failed to get through to his audience
