`2018`: This Rs 100-Cr hit machine is moving & sensible!

`2018 - Everyone is a Hero` (Malayalam) gets its Telugu version. Geetha Arts Bunny Vass is bringing out the film in Telugu this Friday (May 26). Here is an attempt to look at its merits and demerits after its exclusive premiere show.

Story:

The story is set in the year 2018 when Kerala witnessed the worst-ever floods in a century. Even as the movie takes off, characters are seen conversing about abnormal rains due to the man-made destruction of Nature. There is also a protest against a dam.

Tovino Thomas plays a youngster who left the Indian Army because the job profile was too tough for him to handle. A school teacher and he develop a platonic relationship in a matter of a few days. There is a fisherfolk family where dreams and domestic issues collide.  A husband who works abroad and his Kerala-based wife have their own issues, with the former trying his best to patch up with her. The first hour narrates these and a couple of other tracks with the sole aim of establishing the emotional value of the second half.

Performances:

Although this one is a survival thriller, director Jude Anthany Joseph attempts to make the film an expressions-driven drama at times. That gives all the primary actors the space to show range. That said, a couple of performances look flawed at times. Tovino Thomas comes across as an outsider in the first half. It`s only in the second hour that this reviewer liked his screen presence. 

Lal and Narain, who play the father-son duo, are good. Aparna Balamurali as a TV reporter is average. Sudheesh as Varghese (retaining the characters` names from Malayalam also helps) and Vineeth Sreenivasan as Rameshan (the IT specialist living in UAE) look real. Tanvi Ram as the school teacher, Vinitha Koshy (as the pregnant woman whose suffering uplifts a key scene in the second half), and the actors seen in the husband-wife-disabled son stretch are superb.

Technical Departments:

Music (songs): Purely functional.

Background Score: Sometimes loud, a few times apt.

Cinematography: Thumbs-up!

Editing: Nearly flawless in the second hour.

Analysis:

Like many Malayalam films, this one would seem overrated if you watch it with high expectations. Having earned more than one billion rupees at the Malayalam box office, `2018` is the kind of film that has been advertised endlessly by the media`s intellectual class and social media-savvy cinephiles alike. It has even been ideologically pitted against `The Kerala Story`.

This film`s biggest merit is the moving visuals of humans rising to the occasion and joining hands to save people trapped in floods. That said, there is nothing mind-blowing about the staging. Nayanthara`s `Aramm`, which told the story of a rescue operation to save a 4-year-old girl who falls into a borewell, was more effective. That film made the audience invest emotionally even though only one life was involved. It may be risky to say it, but `2018` fell a little short to achieve that even though thousands of lives are at stake here.

That said, the audience heave a sigh of relief when a family gets saved after a heroic rescue operation by a lone warrior. It`s such moments that make `2018` a beautiful watch.

A rare premise

Telling a story with relatable emotions

No unnecessary dramatization

Decent technical quality

Heart-felt performances

No major highs in terms of dialogues or slow-motion shots

Lack of adequate momentum-building around the destructive floods 

Inability to hold the audience`s attention through characterizations.

Overall Movie Rating: 3/5

Box-office Verdict:

Can work in theatres!