IB Times India Rating: 2
The first impression that you get from "Cousins", directed by Vyshakh, is the fact that it rarely manages to engage audience. The movie, which is touted as a comedy thriller ends up being a highly predictable movie with the least comic experience.
The storty of "Cousins" revolves around four cousins, Sam (Kunchacko Boban), Joji (Indrajith Sukumaran), Pauly (Suraj Venjaramoodu) and Tony (Joju George). Sam suffers memory loss of six years of his college life after a brutal accident. The film begins when the cousins take a journey to Sam's past to revive his memory after doctor's recommendation and they end up in Chandragiri Palace.
Four cousins are welcomed by some dark truths about Sam's past and learn that there are some serious reasons behind Sam's accident. They also realise that Sam had a girlfriend Arathi (Vedhika), who was apparently the heir of the palace. With the help of Arathi's cousin, Mallika (Nisha Agrawal), the cousins set out to find the truth about Sam and his past.
The first half of the movie has nothing to offer in terms of entertainment or plot. The main story of the movie in fact begins only by the second half. Just when you think the movie is gaining momentum, the director in a way chose to spoil the flow of the movie by imbibing some unwanted characters and forced comedy dialogues, which of course failed to create any laughter in the theatre.
In terms of performance, Indrajith stands out among the lead actors with his impeccable acting skills and Kunchacko Boban has given out a decent performance. The characters of Suraj and Joju looked out of place. Inclusion of the Kalabhavan Shajon to add comic element failed miserably and felt irritating at times. The other characters including the female leads did not have much to do in terms of performance.
Song sequences of the movie also did not contribute much to the storyline and were placed poorly. The background score by Gopi Sundar sounded out of place.
The good aspect of the movie would be the cinematography, which managed to visualise the movie in the best way possible. The art direction of the movie was commendable and added to the rich look of the movie.
To conclude, "Cousins" failed to meet the expectations with poor scripting and a highly predictable storyline.
