‘Avial’ movie review: A tangled coming-of-age drama

The development of a protagonist can be caused by a variety of factors, but according to some recent films with coming-of-age themes, it is mainly due to a series of relationships.

of Shanil Muhammad avial That, too, doesn’t change much with the script focusing on four stages from the life of the protagonist Krishnan, each representing a different relationship.

The film is structured as a conversation between composer Krishnan (Joju George) and his daughter (Anaswara Rajan). To console the troubled daughter after the break-up, he begins to recall the events of his life on the drive back home. Although one can’t be sure whether she intended these as life lessons (much of it sounds like cautionary tales), the daughter, to her credit, has been somewhat harsh on her father’s past conduct. passes the decision.

The pair mostly have a cameo appearance, with debutant Sirajuddin Nazar making an appearance as Krishnan, going through the four phases of his life undergoing tangible changes. The performance and transformation of the newcomer, from a schoolboy to a lazy college student to an addicted rock musician to an alcoholic who becomes a burden to his wife, are some of the positive aspects of the film. He has played a role that veteran actors dream of, bringing about a complete change in body language to reflect his growth.

But this time-consuming effort isn’t backed by some solid writing that could have gone a long way towards uplifting the film. Shaneel Mohamed, who wrote and co-directed the delightful ‘Phillips and the Monkey Pen’, makes a small effort with his pen here. When the protagonist is in school and college, he has written some solid opening parts, but ironically, as the protagonist grows up, the script becomes rather convoluted and shallow. In these four phases, barring one, four women do not even have much scope to perform.

It is plausible that Krishnan is not portrayed in a completely positive light, though he is narrating his life story to his daughter, but it seems that there is nothing else in his life except the few women he saw. .

For a musician, even music becomes a sideshow, almost always used in film as a means for Krishnan to impress women. Maybe that could be the reason why they forgot to fill in the blanks at the end, to tell us how he became the lead musician of the level he is now. The phase of his life that portrays him as a drunken rock musician in Goa also becomes the film’s weakest link.

avialThe story follows a familiar path, depicting the transformation of a young innocent boy into a decadent, irritable youth on his way to becoming a sober adult. Only parts of that life story captivate us, while the absence of an influential event remains a fallacy.

Avial is currently playing in theaters