Never Ending Movie Carnival
Never Ending Movie Carnival
Bougainvillea review: taut, intriguingly layered and engrossing psychological thriller
What: ‘Bougainvillea’ – Malayalam thrillers have a unique edge, this one inspired by Lajo Jose's novel Ruthinte Lokam (2019) that marks Jyothirmayi's comeback to cinema after an 11-year hiatus has its unique tense moments.
Bougainvillea movie synopsis
Reethu (Jyothirmayi) is suffering from Anterograde and Retrograde amnesia, eight years have passed since the devastating road accident in which her husband Royce (Kunchacko Boban) a doctor has survived. Reethu's life is as directed by Royce. Her day-to-day routine and details about her family are written in a diary. A house help Rema (Srinda) looks after her at home when Royce, is at the hospital.
One day, David Koshy (Fahadh Faasil) turns up at Reethu's home and inquires about the whereabouts of a missing girl. The investigation leads to unexpected twists and revelations that turns the life upside down for the people involved.
Director Amal Neerad's ‘Bougainvillea’ is a slow burner that relies heavily on visual style and intricate sound design for the mysterious and slight eerie feel. The plot does remind of Kamal Haasan's 1978 classic psycho thriller ‘Sigappu Rojakkal’, the amnesia angle makes it different. It does make the viewer asks questions like whether Reethu has really painted a sunflower or it’s the Bougainvillea again. The extra gentleness of Royce creates doubt and also that bit dark scene featuring Srinda in a closeup followed by Jyothirmayi after a while provides that mysteriously eerie feeling.
The introduction of criminal psychologist, Meera (Veena Nandakumar) intensifies the proceedings which is well backed by Anend C. Chandran’s excellent cinematography that captures the beauty and the mystic effectively in the day and gives us the tense, dark moments at night. Editing by Vivek Harshan is crisp and music by Sushin Shyam blends nicely with the film.
Performance
Jyothirmayi makes a fabulous comeback after eleven years. Jyothirmayi carries the film on her shoulders. Playing the tough character like Reethu who is suffering from Anterograde and Retrograde amnesia, Jyothirmayi brings conviction with the perfect balance of vulnerability, helplessness and determination.
Kunchacko Boban carries that slight smile throughout and brings that subtle intensity which time to time adds mystery to the proceedings.
Good support comes from Srinda and Veena Nandakumar
Unfortunately, Fahadh Faasil is there for just a cameo and to add face value.
Flaws
The grandfather story is forced and the climax could have been much better. As said earlier a talent like Fahadh Faasil is wasted.
Bougainvillea movie review – final words
Director Amal Neerad's Bougainvillea is a decent slow-burn psychological thriller that sees Jyothirmayi's fabulous comeback after eleven years of hiatus. Though the climax of this twisty, taut, layered and engrossing psychological thriller could have been much better but still ‘Bougainvillea’ has enough for the fans of Jyothirmayi and fans of the genre in general. The movie was released in theaters in October with mix response and as per reports enjoyed moderate success.
Am going with three and a half stars.
‘Bougainvillea’ is streaming on SonyLIV from December 13, 2024 onwards.
A child born from life & fed by cinema. A filmi keeda from child & a film journalist for the last fifteen years. a father, seeker, foodie who loves crooning bollywood melodies twitter.com/cineblues More By vishal verma