Sunday 3 May 2015

‘Oru Vadakkan Selfie’ a mere time pass 




By Mythily Ramachandran


What can possibly go wrong with a selfie?
A lot, especially if it is taken of a young woman and without her knowledge.
Umesh, (Nivin Pauly) an engineering student with a backlog of 42 arrears, (yeah you heard it right)  realizes that a bit too late. The young woman here is Daisy, (Manjima Mohan) his new neighbour who is least interested in his advances.
The first half of ‘Oru Vadakkan Selfie,’ does not take itself seriously. Just like the characters, the young men in this story, rather boys who have still not grown up and have their college hangover still, it meanders aimlessly. Slapstick comedy rules and after a while you can’t help wondering what’s the joke all about.
The story picks up steam and braces itself on a serious note, when Umesh is determined to prove his innocence as far as Daisy’s disappearance is concerned, who is believed to have eloped with her lover.
What happens to Daisy? Who is her lover? Are questions bothering Umesh.  Helping him in tracking Daisy is his close buddy, Shaji (Aju Verghese) and Jack Tracker, (Vineeth Sreenivasan) a private detective from Chennai whom they hire.
Directed by newcomer G. Prajith and based on Vineeth Sreenivasan’s script, ‘Oru Vadakkan Selfie,’ could have been made into a better film. The humour is loud and in your face. Aju Verghese’s talents has not been well exploited here. Verghese has delivered better hits and you can’t help remembering his ‘Peruchazhi,’ and the last Biju Menon starrer, ‘Vellimoonga.’ Shaji’s character has been poorly sketched.
Sreenivasan gently sends home a message on how vulnerable young women can be owing to the anonymity of the world –wide- web. There is some melodrama in the second half, when Umesh and company land up in Madurai in search of Daisy’s lover. How do the young men without a penny on them manage to survive on this journey and that too in a car. So long as you don’t ask questions and if you are not looking for something serious, you could check out ‘Oru Vadakkan Selfie.’ 
An evening peppered with laughs and you don’t take back home any of the characters to dwell upon. Quite a predictable fare.


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