Aavesham is smooth in its storytelling and leaves a chilling aftertaste, thanks to its one-of-a-kind anti-hero, applauds Arjun Menon.
Aavesham is the sophomore directorial outing from Jithu Madhavan of Romancham fame, with Fahadh Faasil taking central stage.
The film is two films rolled into one, the first being a campus comedy about three college students struggling to find their way in the big city of Bangalore, and the second being the anatomy of a gangster.
The second kind of film in question, which tries to provide context to a gangster's life, is a fascinating exercise in exploring the weird predicament of male friendships and the thin line between moral and amoral wish fulfillment.
Aavesham is laugh-out-loud funny at moments and becomes a moving exploration of an off-the-rails gangster, whose restraint in committing violence himself comes with a nicely etched-out backstory.
The film follows Malayalee college students, who end up entangling themselves with a much-feared gang, only to have their lives changed by the gangster's company.
This is the kind of film that would sound muddled on paper, but the direction that the film takes to reach its conclusion is the stuff of comedy gold and could not only be pulled off without serious conviction from the leading actor.
Fahadh Faasil is in sublime form as this hot-headed and insanely idiosyncratic gangster, whose next move is as big a surprise to him as it is to us.
If scenery chewing is an art, it's high time we proclaim Fahadh Faasil as the in-house Picasso of it in Malayalam cinema.
The man virtually eats up the rest of the supporting cast and owns each scene with a threatening sense of gleeful abandon.
You can't imagine any other actor imparting such a vitality to the performance and at times it seems futile to think of Jithu Madhav's vision for this film without the exuberant generosity of the superstar.
Sushin Shyam elevates the quirkiness of the silliness on display with a vibrant score that almost becomes a side player witnessing Fahad unleashed, left to his wise.
Sajin Gopu, as the livewire henchman following 'Ranga' around, almost takes the movie away from Fahadh in many crucial scenes, especially in the climatic meetup where the film transcends eye acting like never seen before by two actors going through a moment of flailing masculinity and male camaraderie.
Aavesham wants to dismantle gangster film tropes, and goes about its slightly off-kilter breakdown of toxic manhood. It explores a scenario where crying your sorrows out becomes the ideal venting mechanism.
Jithu Madhavan's quirks spread out a bit thin when it comes to his narrative focus and we feel the second hour meandering aimlessly for a good minute before Fahadh Faasil anchors the film to a powerful stop, reminiscent of his performance as 'Psycho Shammi' from Kumbalangi Nights.
Aavesham is smooth in its storytelling and leaves a chilling aftertaste, all thanks to its one-of-a-kind anti-hero.
