Night Drive
RATING
Introduction
A start of another week and Welcome to the Monday Blues. But just to make things better, there was a new Malayalam film which surprisingly made its way to the OTT giant Netflix yesterday. And with that I finished watching the Malayalam film Night Drive on Netflix. This was one film which I knew very little about. I hadn’t much heard about its response or its word of mouth. All I knew was that the film starred Anna Ben and Roshan Mathew, two of my favourite actors at the moment. I still remember their pairing in the Malayalam film Kappela which was quite brilliant. But to be honest, the posters of Night Drive didn’t excite me enough. But given that it was a Malayalam film and the reputation which the industry has earned over the years, I decided to give the film a go. So then is Night Drive worth your time, stay tuned.
Story & Screenplay
Night Drive follows the story of a fateful night where a young couple meet with an accident. But there are more elements in play here. The story isn’t very novel and you can associate this film with one of those low key thrillers which you end up watching for guilty pleasure. But the screenplay is taut and crisp and keeps you on your toes throughout. As any low key thriller from this genre, it begins with parallel tracks where you do get a glimpse of all the characters and the context of the world they reside in. To have an entire film setup in a single night can be tricky as the writing needs to be sharp. And the writing is pretty crisp here. The film doesn’t slow down at any juncture, on the other hand it keeps you at the edge of your seat. The twists and turns are exciting although fairly predictable and slightly over the top. But here in particular, I didn’t mind some of the events being slightly far fetched as they were contributing well to the pace of the film. The ending is slightly cliched and a little too over the top which didn’t quite sit well for me, but overall it is a job well done in the writing department.
Dialogues, Music & Direction
The dialogues are fairly well penned but this wasn’t a dialogue heavy film for the lines to make an impact. The music is good, the BGM is pulsating and does its bit in keeping you on yiur toes. The cinematography is decent, a slightly better production design would have made a slightly more impact. Director Vysakh does a fine job here in keeping things crisp and tight without letting go of the pace of the film which was the biggest positive.
Performances
The performances are pretty good. Siddiqui as Rajan Kurup and Kailash as Balu have their moments to shine. Sreevidya as Ammini is first rate and does a swell job. Anna Ben as Riya has a great screen presence and she is quite brilliant here. It was so good to watch Indrajith as Benny here. He essayed a character which wasn’t quite likable at the very beginning but by the end of it you were rooting for him. A brilliant character arc and brilliantly portrayed too. Roshan Mathew as Georgy is so well restrained and sincere that it is hard not to like him. He is quite charming and affable here but he excels in some of the dramatic scenes as well. A great job done yet again!
Conclusion
Night Drive is an edge of the seat low key thriller which will keep you invested throughout. Available on Netflix.