#Turbo Review

#Turbo 

2024- Malayalam 

Starring : Mammooty , Raj B Shetty , Dileesh Pothan , Bindu Panicker , Kabir Duhan Singh , Sabareesh Varma , Anjana Jayaprakash and Sunil

Directed by Vyaskh

Plot : Jose AKA Turbo Jose , A Cab Driver from Idukki is forced to relocate to Chennai after a Small Clash there. His life turns upside down when his relative , Jerry who is a Bank Employee dies under mysterious circumstances. Things take an ugly turn when Jose finds out that it wasn't a Suicide and was a Murder orchastreatred by a Political Kingmaker known as Vetrivel Shanmuga Sundaram. Who is this Vetrivel? What was his link with Jerry and his Bank? How does Jose hunts him down and clears his vengeance forms the rest of the story.

From Frame One , It is Mammooka's One Man show . His Commercial Avatar as Turbo Jose at the Age of 71 is Astonishing. Be it his Comic Timing or Action Sequences, man has just out done himself. Raj B Shetty as Vetrivel gets an interesting role and has a magnanimous screen presence. But sadly due to a mediocre character design and cliched arc , his role doesn't provide the necessary impact. Anjana Jayaprakash as Indu gets a meaty role and has performed well. Same goes with Sabareesh Varma too. Sunil whose role is like an extended cameo provides laughter here and there in his scenes. Dileesh Pothan gets a decent role while Bindu Panicker as Ammachi is hilarious and wonderful.

Technically the film is very strong. Vishnu Sarma's Cinematography is fantastic. The Mocobot shots and Close up shots are uniquely designed and executed. Shameer Muhammed's Editing is good but could've been sharper. Christo Xavier's BGM is outstanding. The Trailer theme reused in Fight Sequences are exhilarating. There aren't much songs , just one song that goes as montage and is decent. Special Mention to Stunt Sequences which were extraordinarily choreographed.

Director Vyaskh gets into the main story from Scene 1 itself. While the First Half goes on a fun mode with a couple of fights and fun comedy sequences , the core plot is only revealed almost near the interval right after introduction of the Antagonist. The Interval ends on a shocking note.

The Second Half goes on full on Action mode with Jose finding out the reason for his relative's death . The Plot then happens over night which feels a bit stretched at times but the last 40 mins are pure theatre blast stuff.

On the Flipside, the film lacks innovation and uniqueness. The film's one liner is very simple and feels like the film was stretched 2hrs unnecessarily to say this point. The First Half goes on fun mode and Second Half becomes serious with parts of humour here and there , though the tonal shift was set to be organic , it doesn't land organically. The Screenplay also feels very haphazardily stitched over a couple of interesting Fight Sequences and a wafer thin plot.

Writer Midhun Manuel Thomas has taken up a real life incident and built a commercial entertainer around it. The Main Point is very wafer thin , the screenplay could've been much denser to make it more interesting. Also the film might remind you of "Irumbu Thirai" which also deals with a similar issue. Director Vyaskh has tried to elevate simple story with the presence of Legends like Mammooty and Raj B Shetty , but unfortunately succeeds half in that. The Film's Flat Narration makes it so hard to connect with Characters except Jose and Vetrivel. The Film is completely intentened as a Theatrical Material just to showcase the Vintage Mass of Mammooty who has recently been doing more of content oriented films and less of Commercial Films. Turbo is a partial comeback of Mammooty the Commercial Hero which is supported by a Terrific Perfomance of Raj B Shetty.

Highlights:

1) Mammooty and his Magnanimous Screen Presence 

2)Raj B Shetty's Unexpected Mass and Terrific Perfomance (With a Minimally Written Role)

3)Mall Fight Scene and Pre Climax Chase Sequence 

4)Christo Xavier's Terrific BGM

5) Unexpected Climax Voice Cameo 

Overall : Turbo is an Average Old School Mass Masala Entertainer that gets it fuel from a Young and Charming Mammooty and a Half  Deadly Raj B Shetty. Watch with Low Expections and the film might turn out as a Decent Watch .

Rating : 2.5-2.75/5