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Indian Express

Flask movie review: Saiju Kurup's comedy is a festival of missed opportunities, but Suresh Krishna proves he's truly the ‘convincing' star

Flask movie review: Whenever watching something penned and/or directed by Rahul Riji Nair, a sense of semi-dissatisfaction often lingers in my mind. This isn't because his works are outright poor, but more because of how weakly he develops scenes that had the potential to soar and end up settling at a middling level. Take the series Jai Mahendran (2024), written by Rahul and directed by Srikanth Mohan, for instance. Although its premise is quite outdated, it still could have been crafted into a light-hearted watch offering some genuine laughs and a bit of relaxation for the audience. Even his earlier works like the sports drama Kho-Kho (2021), the thriller Keedam (2022) and the adventure comedy Dakini (2018) could have been much better had Rahul refined the scripts further. The same is the case with his latest directorial Flask, which features several moments that could have elevated the film, but are ultimately undercut by average writing. Though a civil police officer (CPO) by profession, Jyothi Kumar's (Saiju Kurup) heart lies in music; he loves singing. Living with his small family comprising his wife Nisha (Aswathy Sreekanth), their daughter (Bhadra Mithun) and his father Kumaran (Balachandran Chullikkad), Jyothi is happiest when he's on stage, singing old Malayalam melodies for a music troupe, Souparnika Orchestra, based in his hometown of Pattambi. Meanwhile, his job at the Vaniyamkulam police station takes a hit when he loses an official file on a bus. As punishment, he's removed from law-and-order duties and reassigned as the personal security officer (PSO) — pejoratively referred to as a Flask, since they're often seen carrying flask containers for their principal(s) — to District Judge Venkidesh Balaji (Suresh Krishna). A strict, no-nonsense jurist, Balaji seldom even smiles when around his family either. He is even colder and distant towards his subordinates. As a result, Jyothi's musical dreams go out the window, since he must be at Balaji's beck and call almost always, despite there being another PSO. One day, as Jyothi and Balaji are proceeding to Wayanad for a function, their official car is attacked and they both are kidnapped by Maoists led by Ganeshan (Sidharth Bharathan), who hold them hostage to negotiate the release of one of their imprisoned comrades, Manu (Anand Ekarshi). What unfolds next forms the rest of the film. At its core, Flask had the potential to be something like director Khalid Rahman's Mammootty-led Unda (2019) or Amit V Masurkar's Rajkummar Rao-starrer Newton (2017). But writer-director Rahul Riji Nair makes it clear early on that he isn't interested in aiming that high and presents a string of mediocre, been-there-seen-that moments instead. In the opening sequence, we see Jyothi, in police uniform, winning over his colleagues and the audience at a local stage event by singing 'Nee En Sarga Soundaryame', composed by Ouseppachan, from Bharathan's classic Kathodu Kathoram (1985). This brings up a valid question for contemporary Malayalam filmmakers: how long are you going to milk people's nostalgia and love for Kathodu Kathoram? It was only recently that Nna Thaan Case Kodu (2022) featured a remixed version of 'Devadoothar Paadi' from the same film, and Rekhachithram was set against the backdrop of its production. With Flask also following suit, it just feels like riding the coattails of yesteryear classics. What makes the scene even more irksome is that playback singer Nikhil Menon's voice sounds nothing like Saiju Kurup's, and it feels especially jarring since we just heard the actor speak a few lines in his actual voice moments before. What follows is a series of scenes that leave little impact, mainly due to all-too-familiar dialogues and underdeveloped ideas. While Rahul maintains a certain organic flow in the narrative, the scenes themselves feel half-baked from the start. Once Jyothi joins Balaji as a PSO, we can sense that there are opportunities to explore more — be it the power imbalance, Jyothi's dissatisfaction with his job, the judge's toxic rigidity, or the possibility to slip in some humorous moments. Instead, all we get are repeated shots of Jyothi rushing to work, attending night duty, opening doors for Balaji and exchanging mundane conversations with co-workers. While these could have contributed to establishing how monotonous such people's lives are, that doesn't seem to be Rahul's intention here. As a result, this entire portion ends up feeling like a series of missed opportunities. What makes it worse is that even the few intended 'jokes' fall flat, closing off any chance of comic relief. Even after they are kidnapped by Maoists and the power dynamics between Jyothi and Balaji begin to shift, with the judge shedding his superiority complex and meeting others at their eye level, Rahul's script fails to capitalise on the narrative potential. Both the serious and comedic interactions between Ganeshan, Balaji and Jyothi are marred by poor dialogues and a complete lack of dramatic weight. In fact, the dialogue writing throughout is so uninspired that we even hear extremely cliched lines like Jyothi saying, 'Vayaru niranju (I'm full)' after being scolded by a superior, or a top cop saying during a meeting, 'Avarude mahathvam parayaanalla nammal ivide koodiyirikkunnath (We haven't gathered here to praise their greatness).' Going forward, we also witness that Ganeshan isn't just all talk as he guns down a turncoat Maoist. But since the character is so poorly developed, we feel no emotion towards him. No fear, no empathy, not even intrigue. He's just there, and hence, we are watching him. Although Balaji's eventual change of heart also could have been much more neatly shown, the writing and the execution lack the required emotional depth. In fact, from beginning to end, Rahul's writing remains largely superficial as he avoids digging deep into any character or theme. Even the final shootout lacks tension, drama and thrill, rendering it just another generic scene. Also, the superficial treatment of sensitive themes like Maoism, especially when the militants are portrayed as living in forests adjacent to tribal settlements, is not just lazy writing, but irresponsible as well, as they simply cater to popular perceptions. While Saiju Kurup is apt as Jyothi Kumar, he isn't given much space to explore or elevate the character, mostly due to weak writing and underwhelming scenes. Suresh Krishna, on the other hand, is excellent as Venkidesh Balaji, with his body language and measured dialogue delivery standing out. Despite this character also being underwritten, Suresh rises above the material to deliver a 'convincing' performance. After all, he's the 'Convincing Star'. While Sidharth Bharathan is wasted in the role of the shallowly sketched Ganeshan, Anand Ekarshi as Maoist Manu is a delight to watch in his limited screen time. On the technical front, cinematographer Jayakrishnan Vijayan and composer Sidhartha Pradeep deliver decent work, though not particularly memorable. Flask movie cast: Saiju Kurup, Suresh Krishna, Sidharth Bharathan Flask movie director: Rahul Riji Nair Flask movie rating: 2 stars Anandu Suresh is a Senior sub-editor at Indian Express Online. He specialises in Malayalam cinema, but doesn't limit himself to it and explores various aspects of the art form. He also pens a column titled Cinema Anatomy, where he delves extensively into the diverse layers and dimensions of cinema, aiming to uncover deeper meanings and foster continuous discourse. Anandu previously worked with The New Indian Express' news desk in Hyderabad, Telangana. You can follow him on Twitter @anandu_suresh_ and write (or send movie recommendations) to him at ... Read More