Aavesham [dir. Jithu Madhavan]

A close friend coined for me the "10% Rule" wherein supposedly I develop an immediate distaste for any piece of entertainment enjoyed by more than 10% of my friends list (this was before Facebook, when that phrase had a little more meaning). It is of course wholly untrue: I love Chennai Express and despise Ghostworld as much as all of you, so there.

Anyhoo, this came to mind because of the hype I encountered about Aavesham from Malayalees of my acquaintance as an "event" movie. With only a teaser that showed star Fahadh Faasil doing a dhappaankoothu dance number in bath-towel and glares, I went in without many preconceptions.

In Aavesham, Faasil's introduction is nearly a third into the film and one that flips over the usual "mass star" dick-waving even as it takes place in a urinal. And the build-up is its own interesting character, because the story's actual protagonists are a trio of Kerala teens (Mithun Jai Shankar, Hipzster and Roshan Shahnavaz) enrolled into engineering college in Bengaluru. A sly vein of humor outlines the difference between the expectations of college from these young men and their naive parents.

For a little while we see our guys spreading their wings; they're not wastrels, they just want to have a bit of fun alongside their education. Hipzster's Aju is the street-smart one, urging all the newcomers to go united as a gang to avoid getting hazed by the seniors. But when one of them gets too cocky, that plan backfires and they are subjected to a humiliating beating. Interestingly, the seniors gang leader Kutty (Midhutty) is not all sneer and brimstone. Once his ego is satisfied, he hands out drinks and calls them his 'bros', accepted members of his troupe. But Aju wants vengeance and comes up with the foolhardy scheme of befriending a local gangster to aid them.

It is in their trawling through shady local bars that our trio meets up with Ranga (Faasil). Ranga is a conglomeration of the archetypes of on-screen toughies. He wears an all-white outfit and is laden with gold jewelry. Branded sunglasses and a well-oiled handlebar mustache complete the outfit.

Ranga takes the kids under his wing and shows them a good time. Regaled with booze and legends of Ranga's badassery told by his burly right-hand-man Amban (Sajin Gopu), it isn't long before the colorful nightlife eats into their academic schedule. At last, taking the opportunity, they let Ranga know of their humiliation, coaxing him into exacting retribution from Kutty's gang. But all actions have consequences; so does their association with the gangster for the purpose of petty revenge.

On paper, Aavesham has a lot going for it. The 3 youngsters have the right combination of cockiness and naivete that you can believe their sticking together for this cockamamie business. It helps that there is no romantic sub-plot for any of them. For a while, there is a delicious ambiguity as to whether Ranga's past exploits are real or just tall stories; during most of the fights, the kids only see him barking instructions to his lackeys, not actually taking part. The writing and Faasil's commitment to a 'big' performance glorify the gangster archetype while simultaneously poking fun at it. Sajin Gopu provides an able foil to Faasil. Their Ranga and Amban have a rapport that pleasantly harks back to the Munnabhai-Circuit scenes from that franchise, and Faasil does not hesitate taking the character to psychotic extremes when needed.

In short, the ingredients are great, but alas, the final dish turns out overcooked. The major issue for me was, the pacing is way off on this one. What could have been a riveting and joyful sub-100 min black comedy (One part of the climax recalls a similar moment from The Shining) is stretched out to a fatiguing 160min. Ranga's full-vein swag is fun the first couple of times, but the movie piles it on ad nauseam. The sub-plot with Mansoor Ali Khan as Ranga's jealous ex-mentor Reddy is amusing in itself, but an unwieldy addition to an already stuffed narrative. Even with all its interesting bits the movie became a bit of an ordeal.

At the risk of my 'Mallu' friends sharpening their 'tools' to skewer me, I have to say that this Aavesham is marred by the 'anaavishyam' (excessive and unnecessary) amount of swag. YMMV.