Bramman (aka) Brahman movie review

(1.5 to 1.75 ) on 5

Sasikumar has built a brand for himself over the past 5 years with movies which are primarily rural family dramas with violence, friendship and good dialogues aiding their cause. He has a big following in the B and C centers and there are some fans in such markets that vouch by his movies.

In Bramman, he turns a city slicker by sporting trendy T shirts, attractive shoes, shades and stylish jeans. The trademark beard is still there though. He has earnestly attempted the brand of romance and dance that some of the current lot of heroes specialize in, and fails miserably. He neither has the moves nor the grace and his exercises at wooing the heroine and dancing with her and other dancers in foreign locales, turn out to be a farce.

The actual plot of the movie is pretty interesting as Sasikumar operates a theater very passionately and intends to keep it afloat, come what may, even as audience numbers start dwindling at his hall. In the second half, as he soldiers on to save his theater, he chances upon an offer to direct a film based on his own story.

There is also a sub-plot involving Sasi’s close childhood friend who is now a big director. Sasi actually comes to Chennai to tell his friend about their beloved theater and somehow save it with his help. But his friend turns out to be a perfect opportunist and the rest of the movie is about what happens to the theater and whether the estranged childhood friends reunite.

The female interest in the movie, Lavanya Tripathi, is a damp squib and doesn’t get much to do other than visiting foreign locales for the song sequences. Her love track with Sasi early in the movie is boring and in the second half, she is the ‘damsel in distress’ as she is caught between the two friends.

The so-called commercial elements in the movie actually kill the movie as the song sequences, the forced fight scenes and the typical Sasikumar friendship and sister sentiments are stale. For how long will Sasi ride on such friendship dialogs and play the selfless friend who is ready to do anything for the sake of his buddies?

The cute Malavika Menon’s role is disappointingly weird and in the end, she gets a clichéd sentiment scene with Sasi and it’s a yawn. Santhanam and Soori take care of the comedy segments in the movie and audiences are actually tuned nowadays to laugh whenever Santhanam appears on screen. Soori as an aspiring filmmaker makes a few comments on the state of the industry and his role is passable. Naveen Chandra as the friend turned big director, is another average actor who occupies the screen.

Devi Sri Prasad’s music for the movie is so stereotyped and dated. The composer doesn’t seem to have any idea of pushing the limits and coming up with something new. Whenever the songs pop up on screen, the audience just rushes out of the hall to the loo or canteen. DSP’s re-recording is typically mushy for the sentiment scenes.

Movies generally based on the cinema industry have a sentiment of bombing and Bramman is bound to continue that trend. With such forced commercial elements, even the interesting core idea seems a wasted effort.

Bramman is a big reality check for actor Sasikumar and a disastrous debut for director Socrates. The audience’s reaction when the movie neared its cliched finale and when it finally came to an end, said enough.