Kasargold review: This Asif Ali-Sunny Wayne film is partly engaging

By putting a bedtime story at the beginning of his film, director Mridul Nair sets a template. There is a once-upon-a-time, a few descriptive characters, and even a moral of the story, as plain as day, narrated by a father to a child. The director clearly didn’t want you to miss it in all the hullabaloo of the chaotic plot. Chaos begins soon after the bedtime story, with a fight on the beach over moral policing, a chase on the roads for smuggled gold, and for good measure, a few conniving politicians too are thrown into the picture. Like ingredients to a recipe, Mridul creates his film with a dose each of different ideas, giving a rather confusing product, partly engaging and mostly distorted.

Kasargold’s lead actors Sunny Wayne and Asif Ali pop up in different settings, one as the doting father of a little girl and the other as a reckless, troublesome man. Appearances are allowed to deceive you briefly, letting the relationship between the two men take new turns over and over again. Asif is almost tailor-made for the angry outbursts and loud expressions of Alby, a worker in the smuggling ring of a corrupt politician. Sunny by now seems to have embraced the quieter, sober man that he can carry off every single time.

As if the smuggling ring, the friendship of the men, and the dirty politics were all not enough, Mridul and his co-scriptwriter Sajimon Prabhakar have also thrown in an inter-caste marriage into Sunny’s character arc. Like many of the straying pieces in the script, you don’t see the purpose behind that part of the plot, except for fear that the film will stoop to conspiracy theories like Love Jihad. The fear comes from the earlier part of the film, when the youth who indulge in moral policing a couple on a beach are quickly painted as victims. The film’s stand on issues is often unclear. As Vinayakan’s character is introduced, he is seen busting a few young people with drugs and alcohol and caning the women and men before the police arrive. It is almost like the film acts like a teacher with a stick, ready to right the “wrongly-gone” younger generation.

Watch: Trailer of the film

But the script is crisp, not wasting time around characters or incidents for longer than necessary. It is also appreciable that Vinayakan, for a change, gets to be the cop, albeit on suspension, when all along he has often played the man on the wrong side of the law. He does it well too, having, it’d seem, absorbed the mannerisms of a hardened police official, with an unusual habit of mixing milk in his drink.

The women characters get limited space on the screen, most of which is disappointingly pretentious. What works for the script is its pace, matched by music that seems to bounce off the screen. Vishnu Vijay’s score is reminiscent of his work in Thallumala, but fits aptly into Kasargold, especially in the fights that fill a good part of the film.

Even if it is fairytale-like, the ending looks like the carefully carved last piece of the puzzle, without which the movie cannot stand. Perhaps, if the writing had left a few stones unturned and been clearer of its stand, Kasargold could have been more enjoyable. 

Disclaimer: This review was not paid for or commissioned by anyone associated with the series/film. TNM Editorial is independent of any business relationship the organisation may have with producers or any other members of its cast or crew.