An International Local Story Review

Harisree Ashokan is the latest from Malayalam cinema to join the club of actors-turned-filmmakers. His directorial debut ‘An International Local Story’ has hit screens today. Let’s see how his maiden outing as a filmmaker has come out.

The plot kicks off from Malaysia where a wealthy Malayali businessman is troubled by his rival to enter into partnership business. He somehow manages to escape the country by selling off all his wealth for a bag of diamonds. Upon reaching his native place, he meets with an accident thereby losing memory. So nobody has an idea of where the diamonds are. If you are thinking is the movie’s storyline, let me say, it’s not. A whole lot of characters and separate tracks are introduced from this point. The screenplay by Ranjith, Eben and Saneesh is reminiscent of the late 80s style confusion comedy.

It is evident that Harisree Asokan has taken a leaf or two from his mentors Siddique-Lal and Priyadarshan who were well known for delivering several such hit comedy films. However, the screenplay goes wayward at many crucial points and lacks coherence. With the help of some good actors and their comedy timing, the movie finally manages to land safely.

The movie has a huge star cast comprising of Rahul Madhav, Deepak Parambol, Manoj K Jayan, Dharmajan Bolgatty, Kalabhavan Shajon, Harisree Ashokan, Mala Parvathy, Bijukuttan, Salim Kumar, Suresh Krishna, Nandu, Jaffer Idukki, Tini Tom, ‘Kuttanadan Marpapa’ fame Surabhi Santhosh, Namitha, Kunchan and Baiju Santhosh. Almost all of them have done their parts well.

Technically, the movie follows the typical format of a mass-comedy entertainer with colorful frames and loud music. A couple of songs pop out of nowhere but considering the genre, you can’t complain much.

So the bottomline is, ‘An International Local Story’ is a kind of film that won’t trouble your brain much but entertain for most part of its runtime. You can just enter the cinema hall, sit back and relax with a few genuine laughs.