Rating:
2.5/5
Star
Cast:
Mohanlal,
Nadhiya,
Megha
Mathew,
Bineesh
Kodiyeri,
Suraj
Venjaramoodu
Director:
Ajoy
Varma
Neerali,
the
Mohanlal
starrer
was
bound
to
have
huge
expectations
surrounding
it.
It
is
the
first
release
of
Mohanlal
in
the
year
2018
and
at
the
same
time,
the
movie
looked
to
be
really
refreshing
and
experimental,
offering
something
new
to
the
Malayalam
cinema.
Has
Neerali
lived
up
to
the
hype
and
expectations
and
given
a
special
treat
to
the
Malayalam
film
audiences?
Read
Neerali
review
here
to
get
the
answers.
Sunny
George
is
a
gemologist
by
profession
and
he
works
with
a
company.
One
day,
he
travels
by
road
from
Bangalore
To
Kozhikkode
with
Veerappa,
who
is
a
driver
of
his
company.
But,
things
go
haywire
when
the
truck
that
they
are
travelling
meets
with
an
accident
en
route
and
the
vehicle
hangs
from
a
cliff,
with
both
the
passengers
stuck
inside.
The
plot
of
the
film
is
impressive
with
it
having
everything
in
it
to
provide
for
an
edge-of-the-seat
survival
thriller.
In
films
of
this
genre,
what
matters
the
most
are
the
sequences
and
scenes,
which
show
the
attempts
of
the
protagonist
to
survive
and
come
out
of
the
near-death
situations.
Such
elements
along
with
some
twists
and
turns
are
so
crucial.
But
the
screenplay
of
Neerali,
especially
in
the
second
half,
fails
to
provide
the
moments
that
are
much
required
to
make
the
survival
thriller
catchy
and
captivating.
The
first
half
of
Neerali
does
start
off
on
a
promising
note
with
the
movie
taking
a
back-and-forth
route
in
the
narrative
pattern.
We
are
introduced
to
the
lead
characters
and
there
are
some
light
moments
to
offer.
Mohanlal-Suraj
combo
has
worked
out
pretty
well,
with
the
scenes
involving
them
engaging
the
audiences.
The
first
half
ends
on
a
note,
which
would
really
leave
the
audiences
eager
to
watch
the
proceedings.
At
the
same
time,
the
second
half
was
something
drastically
opposite
to
what
was
expected
as
the
film
drops
down
on
a
disappointing
note
with
many
sequences
failing
to
take
forward
the
thrilling
elements
that
it
had
promised.
There
are
even
some
logical
loopholes
which
should
have
been
dealt
with
carefully
in
the
script.
Neerali
is
majorly
set
in
one
location
and
it
has
to
be
said
that
the
director
hasn't
done
complete
justice
with
his
work.
While
he
was
impressive
with
his
packaging
in
the
first
half,
the
things
went
haywire
in
the
second
half,
during
which
he
was
rushing
through
to
get
to
the
predictable
finishing
point
without
convincing
the
audiences
about
the
proceedings.
The
cinematography
by
Santhosh
Thundiyil
is
splendid
and
at
the
same
time,
editing
was
just
OK.
The
film
depends
too
much
on
VFX
and
the
team
has
done
a
decent
job,
except
the
song
sequences.
The
songs
by
Stephen
Devassy
were
good
and
the
BGM
too
was
nice.
Mohanlal
has
done
complete
justice
to
the
role
of
Sunny
George
and
he
has
come
up
with
a
notable
performance.
At
times,
it
is
his
convincing
performance
as
the
lead
character,
which
shoulders
the
film
from
going
too
low
in
the
second
half.
Suraj
Venjaramoodu
gets
to
play
a
meaty
role
and
he
has
done
a
fine
job.
Dileesh
Pothan
was
wasted
in
a
poorly
written
role
and
same
was
the
case
with
Nadhiya
Moidu.
At
the
same
time,
Parvatii
Nair
has
impressed
with
her
performance.
Nasser
too
was
wasted
in
a
miniscule
role.
Neerali
has
its
own
share
of
good
moments
to
offer
in
terms
of
performances
and
some
thrilling
moments,
but
they
solely
couldn't
make
it
a
captivating
watch
till
the
end.
It
has
to
be
said
that
the
makers
have
missed
out
on
a
big
chance
to
make
it
an
edge-of-the-seat
survival
thriller.