Four Friends - Review

Taking inspirations from other language films especially by Hollywood flicks are not new to Indian filmmakers. Director Saji Surendran too got inspired by the Hollywood film Bucket List, where four friends, all of whom suffer from cancer but want to lead their remaining life happily by going to places and enjoy their life. He has developed his own version in which Kamal Hassan has done cameo.

Roy (Jayaram), Surya (Kunchacko Boban), Amir (Jayasurya) and Gowri (Meera Jasmine) join a cancer institute called Pratheeksha run by Dr Nandakumar (Ganesh) as patients to undergo treatment. However, they don"t want to depress instead try to find ways to live their remaining life happily. In the process, all the four become thick friends. Soon, they decide to visit places of interest among them and select Malaysia where Surya"s girlfriend lives. In fact, it is the words of Kamal Hassan that inspire them to fall out of depression. He talks about cancer and quotes the names of Satyan, Srividya and the latest Gowthami, who escaped from the jaws of death. Dialogues penned for his character were quite good. The four friends enjoy the balance life without any depression and what happens to their lives have to be seen in the climax.

Performance:
The film had nothing much to offer, one could suggest the film to watch for two reasons. One is Kamal Hassan and for the dialogues penned for his character. Jayasurya is another artiste, who is known for experimenting with characters, and always shows lots of dedication towards his character in any film. He has given a wonderful performance all through the film. Jayaram and Meera Jasmine too have done justice to their characters. It is Kunchacko Boban, who takes care of comedy in the entire movie, though Jayasurya"s performance is a life saver for the entire movie. Salimkumar and Suraj Venjaramoodu tried their best to tickle the funny bones of audiences in this melo-dramatic film.

Technical
Though not so effective in Telugu, the dialogues in the original Malayalam version are quite realistic. In the dubbed version, it lacked the depth and intensity. They are not so arresting and effective. However, Saji Surendran should be commended for choosing 'Yeh Dosti…" song. It has become the theme setter and the music director chose to repeat the song as a theme song for several times in the film. The melodramatic climax for the film made it a tear-jerker. Camera work by Anil Nair is average. He made good attempts to shot different and difficult shots and achieved good results. Especially, the suicidal bridge scene in the climax are worth mentioning. Editing is okay.

Remarks
There are occasional suggestions about chemotherapy, neuro drugs and radiation, the actors appear with gym-toned body and heavy make-ups at their desperate times and this made the film a laughing stock. The director, who could bring out the film as a potential tear-jerker, has not made any serious attempts while trying to give positive suggestions to those who are almost on deathbed.

Cast: Jayaram, Kunchacko Boban, Jayasurya, Meera Jasmine and Kamal Hassan
Credits: Music – M Jayachandran; Cinematography – Anil Nair; Presents – Johnny; Production – G Srinivas, S Kanakalakshmi; Director – Saji Surendran
Banner: RA Art Productions
Released on: February 3, 2012