Tovino Thomas’ Maradona

#Maradona is quite an interesting watch and it only furthers and intensifies my love for Malayalam cinema. Even in a film that falters, there’s so much to ponder, to think about. There’s effort in filmmaking and it’s packed with honest, flawless performances.

#TovinoThomas is pitch-perfect, every muscle in that handsome face reacts, not acts, mind you. It’s great to see a flawed lead, with just hints of likeability. It’s easier to like him when we are oblivious to his past — a character says as much when he comes to know about #Maradona’s shady past — that becomes unintentionally the objective of his journey.

There’s a very uncanny similarity between #Koode and #Maradona, in the way they are both stories of second chances. Every character of Maradona is looking at life after a slip-up. From Asha, the heroine, who has supplementary exams, Maradona’s distant relative who married a Hindu guy, the goons who are chasing Maradona, the old neighbour who lives alone, everybody. With nuggets of ‘wisdom’ from each of these characters, #Maradona’s follows his own story of healing.

It reminded me of a few films #Trapped and in a long-winded way, #KuttrameKadithal, #KuttrameThandanai for example. But #Maradona feels fresh. There are some absolute stand-out moments, and some melodrama that doesn’t fit the rest of he narrative. But the consistency in #Mollywood is still several notches higher, or maybe is it because we know only about the good ones?