C/O Saira Banu review : A commoner’s fight against the law

C/O Saira Banu review : A commoner’s fight against the law

What will a commoner do when trapped in legal issues. He will certainly be caught off guard. Will the law help him and come for his support?

C/O Saira Banu traverses this path. The popular formula of how a protagonist emerges out successfully from the crisis situation, this time a legal issue, is the core of this movie.

C/O Saira Banu is a female oriented subject with three leads- Manju Warrier, Amala Akkineni and Shane Nigam. Initial half of the movie is centered around Saira Banu, a postal assistant, and her adopted son Joshua Peter. There are many heartwarming moments between the mom and son. They lead a very happy life before the inevitable crisis situation occurs. Rest of the movie is more of a court room drama with Saira Banu determined to go to any extent for her son.

C/O Saira Banu is a novel plot with good performances but the movie has a lag factor that projects out as a major glitch. Had the team concentrated more on that portion by trimming down a few scenes, the end product have been much more taut and engaging.

Manju Warrier’s performance in the titular role is her best after she made the sensational comeback in 2014. Eventhough her performance could not match up to those in her prime time, it’s still her best in recent times. Shane Nigam who grabbed the eyeballs of the audience with his terrific perfomance in Kismath has given a commendable performance as the charming teenager, Joshua Peter. Amala Akkineni, who has made a comeback after over two decades, could not match up to the expectations. Advocate Annie John Tharavady is a strong and well fleshed out character, but Amala could not command the respect and add to that her lip movement which went awry. Uppum Mulakum fame Biju Sopanam, Niranjana, Indrans and other supporting actors were up to the task.

Technically, C/O Saira Banu is a decent movie, with good visuals and music. Editing was very mediocre as the effects used in some scenes looked unpleasant. Scripting by RJ Shaan and dialogues by Bipin Chandran are praiseworthy. However, there are quite a few logical loopholes in the movie. In a courtroom drama, where a hotshot advocate does such logical mistakes, it is certain to frown a few faces. It is evident that the writing team have done a good legal research but they should have looked into the logical side also.

Isn’t there any value for the life of a man with no identity? Should we deem it with such apathy? Such doubts are certain to pop up even for a small section of the audience, after stepping out of the cinema halls.

All said, C/O Saira Banu is a decent movie that can be watched with families. It would have turned into a brilliant movie if only the direction was better with some sharp scissoring.