"Loham", a film moulded in Mohanlal-Ranjith camaraderie, has opened to mixed reviews after its release on 20 August.
[Also read: 'Loham' Audience Review]
The film is expected to perform well at the box office during the first week, as there are no major releases until next Thursday. The Mohanlal starrer may find itself in a tight spot when Mammootty's "Utopiayile Rajavu" will be released on 27 August.
Below is review round-up of Mohanlal's 'Loham':
A One-Time Watch
Filmibeat
Ranjith, who doubles as the writer and director of the movie, manages to execute the first half pretty well. The first half is completely engaging with the light-hearted comical situations. The interval sequence is also delivered well.
But things go out of the hands in the second half, which looks dull and extremely predictable, with a disappointing climax. Ranjith's craft as a filmmaker is visible throughout the movie. But what Loham lacks is, his brilliance as a writer.
Mohanlal delivers a kick-ass performance as taxi driver Raju. His transformation from the simple exuberant Raju to the complete mass hero was completely mesmerizing.
Andrea Jeremiah, who plays Jayanthi, has nothing much to do in her minimal role. The actress fails to maintain a chemistry with Mohanlal; but surely saves the character from falling apart with her matured screen presence.
Siddique has stolen the show with his exceptional comic timing.
Verdict: A one-time watch which doesn't fit into the category of neither mass nor class.
Neither Mass nor Class
Moviespicy
Loham as the director of the movie Ranjith has said before is a movie that has commercial aspects more than that of his usual style. As Ranjith said Loham is exactly an entertainer with a good plot. The movie is sure shot to become a success as Loham has almost all the ingredients in correct proportion to be that. But the most interesting thing about Loham is that the cliché super hero stuff is not there in Loham and it is indeed a relief. The most remarkable performance in this movie is by none other than Siddique. He once again proved that he is one the best Malayalam movie industry has to offer to the movie world. Not only him the entire casting of Loham is perfect. The movie is a decent thriller and will be a feast for all Mohanlal fans. As usual Mohanlal did his role perfectly.
Regarding the negatives of the movie Loham, the first half of the movie will give one such an expectation that people will expect something explosive in the second half. But the excitement that the movie will give you on the first half won't be there in second half. The script will make you feel that the movie has something missing and is incomplete in the second half.
Sreevalsan J menon has made some soothing songs for this movie. BGM of Loham was cliché there was nothing new in it.
The technical side of the movie is brilliant. Cinematography by Kunjuni S Kumar, direction, Audio section of the movie is too good.
Verdict: A good entertainer
Above Average Flick
Movieseeks (Chandra Mohan Gopinath)
The story as the tagline says is not about Kallakadathu, but about how Kallam is transported and how they do it. Yes. Renjith showed how gold smuggling business work out and how it is done, but the narrative part became much predictable.
Mohanlal plays the mystery character to perfection. While the first half has shades of humour, the latter part has dark shade to his role with little dose of heroism.
On the whole, Loham if you ask me whether its a complete mass movie, I would say No. At the same time, it is not a class movie either. Its just an above average flick that is going to get a mixed bags of opinions in the coming days.
So the bottom line here is that people going with loads of expectation, the advice is just to bring it down to a lower level and watch Loham. Now to the most awaited part in the review, that you all are looking for, the ratings, I will go with three out of five.
Overall a Disappointment
Lensmen Review
The intention is to showcase the inner world of the gold smuggling to the audience, but with a story structure that is too simple and highly predictable (except for the interval punch) Loham fails to be an entertainer. It neither gives anything special about the new plot nor explores the commercial flavours which we expect in a Ranjith movie that has this mass appeal attire. The lack of a fresh track to say something related to smuggling makes Loham, a movie without any energy.
Teaser was interesting and trailer was disappointing and the movie in my opinion falls in the disappointment category. There was this "keep the expectations low" tag spreading before the release. Once you watch the movie you will realize why they said that. The movie has this cold feel throughout. There isn't a single dialogue you will remember after the movie. The sort of simplistic Mohanlal kept things moving in the first half, but the second half of the movie was predictable and dull.
Overall Loham was a disappointment for me. The most generous verdict from my part would be that it is an average movie. But I don't think it's a movie that deserves that sort of generosity, so the rating is 2/5. It will be comfortable onetime watch for those who say "watching Mohanlal is enough for me."
Verdict: It will be comfortable onetime watch for those who say "watching Mohanlal is enough for me.
