D Company

The idea of an action anthology film sounded quite appealing in that three directors - M Padmakumar, Diphan and Vinod Vijayan - would offer their explorations , each through a film that falls in the action genre. The resulting product - 'D Company' - is however far from electrifying, and the reasons are many.

'D Company' starts off with the Padmakumar film 'Oru Bolivian Diary' that has been scripted by G S Anil. It stars Asif Ali in the role of Chinnan, a tribal youth who sacrifices his life during his endeavor to protect an activist and revolutionary named Chaukidaar (Samuthirakani) from the clutches of the cops.

'Gangs of Vadakkunnathan' that has been scripted by Anoop Menon and directed by Diphan is the better film of the lot, thanks to a spirited performance by Jayasurya. The actor plays Varaal Jaison, a notorious gangster based in Thrissur, and the film itself chronicles the gang wars in the city of Vadakkunnathan. A shrewd police officer named Akbar (Anoop Menon), who arrives in the city on a very special mission, aided by his assistant (Unni Mukundan) brings the battles to a close.

Vinod Vijayan's 'The Day of Judgement' has been scripted by Rajesh Ravi and has Fahadh Fazil playing a doctor who is acuused of murdering his deranged wife Jeena (Bhama). Zarina Mohammed (Tanusree Ghosh), the police officer in charge of the investigation is hot on his heels, and the doctor is cornered in no time.

Script wise, none of the three films lays out any surprise before us, and hence all three of them could have done much better with stronger, more compelling plot lines behind them. As of now, the plots are littered with sudden jumps here and there, that makes the ride less thrilling and more tiresome.

Sometimes it so happens that one film in an anthology does not match up to the rest, and that the others makes up for its mediocrity with their supremeness. However in 'D Company' this brilliance is visible in none of the three films, and all of them, without exception can be strictly categorized into middling stuff.

What it does manage to do is to maintain the dark tone that runs evenly through all the three films, and the sinister mood that is evenly stretched across. I have a very special word for the technical excellence that is visible throughout - the cinematographers Vinod Ilampally, Bharani K Dharan and Pappu have done commendable jobs in the respective films.

It's surprising that Padmakumar has opted for a story that is strangely reminiscent of his own film 'Shikar' and with Samuthirakani himself playing the role of a revolutionary yet again. One cannot be blamed for sensing that some frames look weirdly similar to the former film. Anoop Menon's peculiar cocktail that blends the Trivandrum slang with finely polished utterances in English has started getting repetitive, but the best scene in 'D Company' belong to him - when Akbar asks if his fellow officer Narendran (Irshad) is a Nair by caste, through an observation that is hilarious.

Fahadh is extremely impressive as the doc in distress, and he has close competition from Jayasurya who simply rocks the screen as the deadly thug. Asif Ali, Samuthirakani, Anoop Menon and Unni Mukundan do justice to their roles, while Bhama, Tanusree Ghosh and Ananya come up with adequate performances.

The brilliant visuals aside, 'D Company' is something of a bore. Beneath its dazzling surface, the depth is missing, and so are the thrilling undercurrents that make an action film worth a solid recommendation.