Kodathi Samaksham Balan Vakeel Review

‘Kodathi Samkasham Balan Vakeel’, Dileep’s latest film with director B Unnikrishnan had pretty good pre-release hype. The lead character is an advocate with a stammering problem – a very intriguing set up. But does the movie live up to the promise? Let’s see.

Balakrishnan is a struggling advocate who is low on confidence. Though he is professionally efficient with a knack of cracking cases, his stuttering problem that comes with a dark past continues to haunt him. How the underdog Balan vakeel manages to triumph when faced with a major adversity is what the plot is all about.

B Unnikrishnan is a proven director when it comes to crime thrillers. Here, he attempts something different by clubbing comedy elements within a suspense thriller. The initial 20 minutes or so is a total mess and acts as big dampener. But the narrative gains momentum when the conflict part kicks in and the mandatory interval punch also works well. In the latter half, the screenplay again goes wayward but somehow gets to a point where the protagonist, Balan vakeel, unfolds the knots. The underdog does emerge victorious, but how convincing is it still remains a question.

Dileep as Balakrishnan had a challenging role to perform. Despite his earnest efforts, his performance appears caricaturish at times, especially in the initial few scenes, when supporting characters around him mock his speech disorder. Apart from him, none of the other actors had a meaty role to perform. Mamta Mohandas and Aju Varghese appear throughout the film with Dileep. While the former as the female lead played her part well, Aju Varghese in the side-kick role was terrible.

Siddique was hilarious and his character might be the next popular troll face. The immensely talented Suraj Venjaramoodu, who has been very choosy with his roles of late, disappoints big time. It is just a poor imitation of his own good-for-nothing aliyan roles from ‘Pokkiri Raja’ and ‘Life of Josutty’. There are a whole lot of non-Malayali actors like Harish Uthaman, Vamsi Krishna and ‘Kalakeya’ Prabhakar but none of them impress.

On the technical front, cinematography was apt and couple of action sequences were well choreographed. Despite not going over-the-top, the stunts pack a punch. Gopi Sunder’s background score was repetitive and impressive. The song ‘Then Panimathiye’ composed by Rahul Raj was pleasant.

Overall, ‘Kodathi Samaksham Balan Vakeel’ is a popcorn entertainer with its share of moments.