 |
DVD Mr. Fraud
 Rating: 5.8 Genres: Thriller Director: B. Unnikrishnan Writers: B. Unnikrishnan Stars: Mohanlal, Dev Gill, Vijay Babu |
| Storyline A prominent person from Delhi reach a palace,which is well known for its tradition and royalty to solve an issue. Consequently, instead of a solution, the issue becomes more and more complicated. |
|
| Details: Country: India Release Date: 16 May 2014 (India) |
|
| Box Office Budget: INR 52,200,000 (estimated) |
|
DVD Mr. Fraud
previous post
4 comments
There is a scene in Mr Fraud when the nameless character played by Mohanlal is about to take on a set of beefy men. They own swords, clubs and stare in a cold manner. The hero smiles at them and almost gets set to undo his wristwatch when he says: "I have done this so many times. So this time, let's skip this." If the second line can be ignored, the first dialogue perfectly sums up Mr Fraud.
In the film Lal plays a thief without a name and with so many faces. The faces include one with loose, lengthy hair, another with a mix of black and white, later a different one which resembles a badly manicured lawn and ending on a black thick spread with an addition of French beard.
All the characters are given one-liners or rather words of honour for the hero like 'We are equal, but you are the first among the equals' or 'Your salt and pepper is hot, really hot'. Even the villain is not spared. As the hero's black Scorpio crashes through a pile of thin wooden logs, the villain wonders with the innocence of a child.
"Who are you, lion or incarnation of Narasimha?"
Unnikrishnan dabbles with such pampering stuff as if Mohanlal is wilfully taken for a ride back to the days when he played characters who hardly resembled men. In the process, there is the story about a ploy to plunder the treasure from a royal family, a story-line evidently drawn from the secret chambers of Sree Padmanabha Swamy temple.
Mr Fraud is not at all such a tedious watch with its luxuriant display of gadgets, air-screen projectors and dialogues resonant with technical terms. The fight and chase happen with the accompaniment of dry-leaves propelled away with vigour, but certainly not as unbearable as the tiring song-sequences which offer no mercy for ears.
Mr.Fraud is a watchable entertainer. Neatly crafted script directed with Technical Finesse.The movie was definitely stylish.( My definition of style is not walking in slow motion. It's the way the characters are presented and how they carry themselves in a stylish manner. BGM can only act as a catalyst). B.Unnikrishnan has orchestrated the scenes pretty well and managed to cover up for the wafer thin story line.Even though the climax was predictable, it was neatly executed. I would rate this movie above his Grand master in all aspects, but didn't reach to the level of his earlier one – "Tiger". All actors did their job pretty well. Siddique and Saikumar excelled in their respective roles. Mohanlal was mesmerizing, to say the least. Subtle and powerful performance. One should appreciate the effort taken by Unnikrishnan and crew to come up with this genre of movie in Malayalam. It's not an easy job at all and small flaws in script can result in movie becoming a disaster. That is where Unnikrishnan has succeeded. Nothing much to say about the first and third songs. Second song is enjoyable for semi classical lovers. Mohanlal's 5th attire in the end sequence was funny and avoidable. Only buffoonery in the movie was that. If you are a Mohanlal fan, it's a must must watch. If you are a neutral movie lover, you can definitely watch it without getting bored and get entertained. I belong to the latter category, and I enjoyed the movie. PS – I am not comparing this with Dhoom, as Malayalam film industry cannot afford to create such a movie. This is an entertainer compared to movies like "Lokpal, Gangseter, Daivathinte swantham Cleetus, Karmayodha, Singaravelan, Kammath & Kammath etc".
There is no 'SPOILER'
THE JOURNEY FROM THE TAG OF WORST MOVIE OF 2014 TO AVERAGE ENTERTAINER
I guess the publicity stunts before the release didn't worked that well..All this movie works for is different styles of mohanlal…which is not a big deal.
The Movie progresses with some unrealistic(or lack of logic) Screenplay along with enough spices, masalas and crappy comedies and stunts to cheer the die hard fans.
And i would recommend not to watch this because this will be a terrible 138 minutes of your life,yes of course unless you are a mohanlal fans. and wish to believe that its just a treat for his fans after the success of drishyam.
"Nothing Left To Make Movies On." That is apparent from this film, or should I call it a farce? I had expectations from Unnikrishnan after his previous film, Grandmaster had managed to charm. Mohanlal, on the other hand, has lost his skill of reading a script. Films have all been reduced to just pomp and glamor, evident from the most recent Mammootty box office bomb, Gnagster.
If I had to describe the film in one word, I would say: ANNOYING.
Because the film kick-starts with an ear-shattering number enacted by Mohanlal as a singer. Bollywood one-film-old actress Manjari Phadnis dances to his tunes which is supposed to be a fusion of pop & reggae music, but the final result is a genre of pure static. After succeeding in allaying the audience's excitement, the plot starts rolling. About a conman who has no regards to his different faces. He is accompanied by Vijay Babu & Phadnis, two of the most unprofessional helpers I have seen on-screen.
Then comes the actual story of some king's palace where kilograms of precious stones are locked in a dungeon. The family who owns the palace has internal tiffs while Mohanlal is assigned a job to rob it all. There is gaping plot hole here (which I have mentioned in the "Goofs" section of this movie's page on IMDb). Then characters are introduced, while simultaneously slow-mo shots of Mohanlal walking, smiling, fooling around and speaking out witty remarks are shown; this takes up 20 minutes of the whole 2-hour parade.
The story is ridiculous: a mixture of clichéd heist flicks and plot points reminiscent of Prithviraj's flop film, Robinhood. The use of CGI and high-tech, if was supposed to charm, also fails because the characters seem to have no idea as to what they are dealing with. The villain in here is a real joker: from his appearance to his characterization to his strategies. In order to bring out a thrilling experience, the writers have sampled 2-3 twists which are so predictable that a 5-year old beside me guessed it halfway into the film. Then, there is the emotion-melodrama factor, thanks to Mia's character.
The only thing I loved was Siddique's portrayal; he is captivating. Supporting cast is fine. The humor is very petty, referencing Mohanlal's airs in his past films. Many dialogs are even copied from yesteryear films (Ustad Hotel). There are 3 highly irritating songs stuffed between the narration which made me yawn at least thrice. And not to talk about the useless rap the BG score accompanies. I now wonder what has happened to Malayalam cinema? A mockery in the name of new-wave nonsense?
The last 20 minutes are hopeless and while it could have saved the shindig from destruction, it quickly modifies to self-immolation as the audience realize that the film has no relation whatsoever with the word "FRAUD."
BOTTOM LINE: Mr. Fraud has nothing in its kitty to boast off. Maybe, the makers thought style, glamor & the idea of robbery would stick a punch to the audience's thirst. But I am sorry to say, that it stumbles in its own grave, face down. And Mohanlal's last personality certainly earned him few giggles. It was a faux-pas, trust me. Do not waste your hard- earned money on this even if you're a die hard fan. Rather, re-watch Mohanlal's classic Nadodikattu!
Can be watched with a typical Indian family? YES