Cross-posting the review I wrote in ForumKeralam.
Theatre: Innovative Multiplex
Show: 11/12/2010, 10 PM
Status: Housefull
I had high expectations when I went to watch the movie after reading the review and preview reports. Slightly disappointed at the outcome. When I thought about it later, the movie did not have any glaring negatives. Only thing that dampened my spirits was the expectation. You cannot really blame anybody for gushing about the movie. Best Actor is probably the most proper Malayalam commercial movie to come out in a long time. A good story, great performances, and enough elements for a wholesome entertainment regardless of whether you are a fan or not.
Not going on to the story since its been repeated more than 50 (or is it 60?) times in FK itself! Martin Prakatt deserves a pat on the back for doing a proper homework and execution with no glitches that first time Directors make. Direction was decent in the first half. Pace was pretty decent considering the fact that nothing much happened for most part of it. I thought the second half was brilliantly executed. It had all the recipes that could make or break the movie and Martin skilfully weathered the storm. Script was also decent, but a better script could have turned the movie into a classier affair.
Kudos to Mammootty for taking a chance with Martin. He looks younger by the day and I suspect that he has turned into a modern Dorian Grey! His performance was top class. The most notable scene is when Srinivasan spurns him in the school. He expresses the emotional turmoil perfectly. His avatar as a Bombay Dada was very good, well aided by his motley crew and the dialogues. Only gripe I felt was in a couple of Hindi dialogues. They seemed to land somewhere in the middle of punchy and comical instead of veering towards the right path.
The other cast members were really good and got decent screen time. Salim Kumar looked good after a long time and Nedumudi Venu was awesome as Aashan. Sreenivasan was adequate fitted the role of a no-nonsense Director perfectly. The heroine was not that great. Granted that she had very little to do, but there was space for a great performance given the limited screen time. It would have fleshed out the movie a bit more. This should have been taken care by the Director/script.
Ajayan Vincent's camera was outstanding. Editing felt choppy in the first half, but Don Max was in his elements in the latter half. Songs were ok and BGM was good.
Martin Prakatt is someone to look forward to in the future. Its great for Malayalam cinema that this year witnessed the emergence of quite a few talented Directors.
TL;DR: Best Actor is a wholesome entertainer for all kinds of audience, packed with great performances and good direction.
Rating: 7/10
