A movie that is running to packed halls? One that is featured in most conversations in the state? A movie that was made on a budget of 30 million rupees but has already netted 600 million! Based on a true life incident? No superstars? What’s a horror comedy? Welcome to #Romancham, #JithuMadhavan’s directorial venture that is creating waves across Kerala. It is now streaming on #DisneyPlusHotstar.
#Romancham is the tale of seven friends living in a house in Bangalore, that resembles a pigsty. The Director says that it is relatable for anyone who has shared accommodation for bachelors although I was certainly aghast at the lack of hygiene. Only one of the seven is employed, one is trying his hand at various businesses and two have cleared interviews and are waiting for the job orders. At first glance, a set of good-for-nothing fellows. The film takes all of 45 minutes though to establish each character, celebrating each one’s quirkiness.
Jibin (the versatile and very talented #SoubinShahir) is intrigued by his friends invoking the spirits on an Ouja (Spirit) board and convinces his volleyball loving housemates to join him. As the incredulous friends set off on this journey, they manage to rope in a spirit named Anamika who tells the truth as it is, predicts the future and spells doom for some. A madhouse of adventures is set off and while the horror elements are limited, it is a laugh riot all the way. Enter Sinu (#ArjunAshokan) with his brand of friendly smile, nod of the head and sudden stupefied silences and a new wave of laughter erupts. Will this lead to peril for the friends or will they thrive in the wake of the spirits? And that's the rest of the story.
#Madhavan does well to assemble a fine set of actors . Besides #Shahir and #Ashokan, there is #ChembanVinodJose in a hilarious cameo, #SijuSunny, #AfzalPH, #AbinBino, #JagadeeshKumar, #AnantharamanAjay, #JoemonJyothir and #AssimJamal. The writing and dialogues are top-notch as each character becomes relatable. The music by #SushinSyam, and cinematography by #SanuTahir accentuates the narrative but the editing lets it down in parts. The narrative is not engaging enough and the story loses out on steam towards the end. There is little by way of conclusion and the makers are banking on a sequel. Perhaps Anamika will return to reveal her secrets!
In summary, an interesting experiment but without enough legs. Perhaps there is a time for each idea and audiences lapped up the laugh riot . The sheer ingenuity of the idea and the audaciousness of the execution has caught the fancy of people's imagination, coming after a plethora of heavy drama based stories. I can't help wondering if this has the potential to evolve into the next wave of comedy in Malayalam cinema. From the 60s when Bahadur, Shankaradi and Adoor Bhasi provided comic relief with loud, slapstick comic lines to the 70s when Kuthiravattom Pappu, Mala Aravindan and then the iconic Jagathy Sreekumar provided more realistic, bordering on the offensive laughs, to Innocent and his family humour, Srinivasan with his self-deprecating humour, Jayaram the only comic actor to turn superstar, and then Indrans, Philomena and Kalpana taking their place under the sun leveraging their body language and facial expressions, to Dileep and his brand of polarizing humour, it has been a veritable army of funny men and women. Can an army of nondescript but interesting young actors create the same fervour in the comedy space, I wonder ?
Comments