Loham

We had seen a large haul of gold smuggled from the Gulf countries being caught across the airports in Kerala, some time back. There were many conspiracy theories doing rounds, stories of hapless carriers and the names of big fishes doubted to be involved in this precarious business were thrown around. All these things make good fodder for a masala film. And, who better to do it than director Ranjith. So, Loham - The Yellow Metal, written and directed by Ranjith with Mohanlal in the lead carried the heavy burden of expectations being an Onam release. But, sorrily it fails to deliver on those expectations.

We begin with the arrival of human remains of a young man in Karipur airport, this man had died in an accident at a construction site in Dubai. And, none other the local MLA, played by Hareesh Perady had come to the airport to expedite the customs clearance of this body. The back story of the young man portrayed by Musthafa with the Malabar backdrop playing a significant role in it and the song Kanaka Mylanchi that has topped the charts for the last few days featuring here.

Next we see Jayanthi Ramesh (Andrea Jeremiah) landing in Kochi. Here Mohanlal enters as her cab driver Raju, he is talkative and bubbly to the boot. But, she is the silent sort and it is obvious from her body language that something serious is going on in her head. She has come here to find the whereabouts of her husband Ramesh (Ashvin A. Mathew), the customs officer who has gone missing after clearing the dead body of the youth in the Karipur airport a few days back.

Numerous other characters make an appearance as Jayanthi and Raju drive around the city adding to the thickness and the mystery of the plot. It feels as if the director is deliberately on the simmering point in the first half relying on Mohanlal’s comic prowess and we sit expectantly for the narrative to explode with vigour and wit. But, it never comes to the boiling point and the excitement that was anticipated never comes to the fore. Things just fizzle out without providing us any real thrills.

As we go along it is revealed that the coffin of the young man had 100 kilos of gold hidden in it, which has gone missing while the body was delivered at his home. And, everyone around is after that without the distinction of being a good guy or a bad guy. Then there many twist and turns in this tale that are not original or interesting.

There is an endless list of characters making an appearance in the frame and a couple of them like Sasi Kalinga and Shankar Ramakrishnan do not even contribute anything to the plot.

Others like Renji Panicker who is becoming very active as an actor these days appears as a member of Mohanlal’s gang is the only one who shows some spark as an actor, all others in the ensemble cast seem to be going through the motions as instructed.

After testing this Loham we can only say that it lacks glitter and lustre, and is not original at all.

As it appeared in Rediff.