‘Joshua: Imai Pol Kaakha’ movie review: Gautham Menon loses the plot — hook, line and sinker — in this chaotic mess

Anbuselvan. Raghavan. Sathyadev. Karthik. Suriya, son of Krishnan. The story of Gautham Vasudev Menon’s male heroes and the equation they share with 80s and 90s youngsters is already a decade outdated. And but, the ‘GVM hero’ — nevertheless worn out the picture of a shirt-tucked-in, bracelet-clad man has turn into — nonetheless finds a particular place amongst audiences, because the latest re-releases of a number of Gautham Menon movies have proved. The GVM hero is delicate and seasoned, often ill-tempered however with an ethical fibre, and a delicate Romeo who might make Shakespeare blush. He’s normally an upper-middle-class man who refuses to be a pushover (besides when Jessie takes him on a trip), brings a sure appeal to using bikes and jeeps with aspirational worth, and rises to the event regardless of his flaws. Even with a movie like Vendhu Thanindhathu Kaadu, Gautham Menon wrote a protagonist in Silambarasan’s Muthu who didn’t fairly belong to his typical template however nonetheless stood tall within the director’s filmography.

After which got here Joshua…

He’s an impassive mess, a desi John McLane who’s a little bit of a prick, and a person you wouldn’t want to meet even in your goals. And so to see a filmmaker like Gautham mount a criminally underwhelming Bodyguard-esque story on this underfed John Wick wannabe is an upsetting affair, to say the least. Making issues worse is the actor taking part in the titular function, Varun, who appears to have been instructed that performing is all about eyebrow actions and nothing to do with convincing supply.

All the pieces about Joshua makes it seem to be an amateurish try; nearly a spoof on Gautham’s earlier movies… and that’s placing it mildly. Joshua, a cruel contract killer, as plain as a plastic motion figurine, falls in love with Kundhavi Chidambaram (Raahei), a lawyer on observe to turn into an assistant district lawyer in New York. After realising who he’s, and witnessing him plunge knives right into a dozen males exterior the airport (legislation enforcement on this world is a joke), Kundhavi leaves him.

Nevertheless, the time Joshua spends with Kundhavi modifications one thing in him and he decides to fix his methods and turn into a Shut Safety Unit bodyguard. However when Kundhavi finds herself within the crosshairs of a robust Mexican drug lord, Madhavi (Divyadarshini/ DD, as Joshua’s Nick Fury) asks Joshua if her group ought to go for the Rs 6 crore bounty on Kundhavi’s head. That is how the dialog between Joshua and Madhavi goes:

Madhavi: “Ought to we kill her? It’s good cash..”

Joshua: “No…. oh wait, she wants safety now, proper?”

Madhavi: “Sure.”

Joshua: “Let’s shield her.”

Madhavi: “Thought you’d say that. Okay.”

These are educated, ruthless killers, certain, however an AI robotic might communicate extra humanly about “a lady he loves” and ChatGPT might have written a dialogue with extra life and drama.

That is the most important letdown from Gautham within the movie; there appears to be no motivation to make use of sturdy, novel emotional beats to help the development of occasions, one thing his movies are identified for. After changing into Kundhavi’s bodyguard — and saving her by risking his personal life — Joshua wins over her coronary heart. However why is that this unbiased, educated girl falling for this strolling purple flag of a person who lied to her about his identification, has no ethical fibre, and retains failing to give you a strong plan to guard her?

It’s additionally fairly infuriating to see how these so-called highly-skilled contract killers-cum-protectors (perhaps Dhruva Natchathiram, with which the movie shares this universe, might give some readability on this organisation) go about their mission. Their plan to guard Kundhavi from a far-reaching drug mafia is to maneuver her from one safehouse to a different — solely inside Chennai — till the dangerous guys assault them!

There have been numerous movies in each Hollywood and the Indian context through which the drama and dialogues that glue collectively the motion blocks fail, however no less than you get just a few memorable gun fights or automobile chases. However in Joshua, even these scenes are written and constructed abysmally, and the movie bores you as a showreel of motion set-pieces too. Sequences written purely for an adrenaline-pumping expertise, with little worth within the plot, lack convincing emotional build-ups or cathartic pay-offs.

Why Varun for this function? Why select to inform this story in 2019, after Achcham Yenbadhu Madamaiyada and Enai Noki Paayum Thota? Why herald Krishna (who performs Koti, an area gangster) simply to serve a lazy plot twist? There are a number of different spoiler-y questions Joshua frustrates you with and, ultimately, you solely want you had employed a contract killer to shoot down such concepts in Gautham Menon’s thoughts. Sadly, concepts are bulletproof. The dangerous ones as properly.

Joshua: Imai Pol Kaakha is at present working in theatres