Take Off Review : A story about the survival of Malayali nurses

Take Off Review : A story about the survival of Malayali nurses

“People call nurses as God’s Angels but they are not really bothered about the plight of the Angels and their families.”

Take Off Malayalam movie explores the plight of the nurses and their problems in work and family. Sameera (Parvathy) is a nurse in Kerala who is moving to Iraq for better salary. Her husband (Asif Ali) and family members are not supportive of her wish to work to pillar her family. They finally get divorced after their differences. Shahid (Kunchako Boban), a colleague from work understands all her problems and wishes to marry her. Though Sameera is initially hesitant about another marriage, the two get married before moving to Iraq. ‌Rest of the plot revolves around the troubles faced by the couple and other nurses after they reach Iraq for work.
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The movie is based on true incidents that happened in Iraq in 2014. First half is centered around the family lives of nurses and their problems before shifting to their ordeal in the Iraq terrorist attacks. Though the plot is very thrilling from the outlook, the director has given more prominence to emotions. More focus is given to Sameera and her family problems.

‌Parvathy has given a stellar performance as Sameera. She has effortlessly portrayed Sameera’s emotional constraints. Fahadh Faasil as Indian embassy officer Manoj Abraham, has once again amazed with his brilliant performance and screen presence. Kunchako Boban as Shahidh and Asif Ali as Sameera’s first husband were also good playing their parts. All the others did complete justice to their characters.

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Background ‌score and songs complemented the tone of the movie. Art, costumes and make-up departments deserve a very special mention. Sanu Varghese’s cinematography was fantastic, however editing could have been more crispier as some scenes were very lengthy.
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‌As a director Mahesh Narayanan has brought a great filmmaking style for the movie. Visuals and graphics scenes matched upto some of the best works from Bollywood. However, the screenplay could have been more powerful. The core plot of the movie is the rescue operations in Iraq, but more screentime was given to the family issues of the lead character. Had these scenes been edited out and more priority was given to the events in Iraq, it would have been an incredible watch.

Take Off could not match upto the overall quality of Bollywood movie Airlift, which also had a similar setting to Take Off. Airlift, unlike Take Off, also succeeded in instilling a patriotic feel to the audience while watching the movie.

Despite all that, Take Off will be a great movie watching experience for the Malayali audience.