Never Ending Movie Carnival
Never Ending Movie Carnival
Farhana movie review: Simplistic but problematic.
What: Farhana, starring Aishwarya Rajesh in the titular role, starts off on an intriguing note, meanders all the way to a hackneyed ending.
Farhana movie synopsis
Chronicling the life of a Muslim housewife who takes up job at a bank's call center owing to poor condition of her family, Farhana (Aishwarya Rajesh) has a shaky and problematic stand.
On one hand, it advocates women empowerment - Farhana, a mother of two, stays along with her in-laws. She wants to join hands with her 'anpadh' and conservative husband to elevate the family's income.
On the other, it forays into human frailties where the protagonist, enticed by the thought of incentives, takes up a role at a center running online friendship chat. Though hesitant, she descends into a murky and dangerous place governed by sexual and lewd conversations.
Written and directed by Nelson Venkatesan, Farhana has an interesting premise but it drifts away from heft and seriousness. The treatment is quite mediocre and even though it takes the shape of a thriller, things don't quite create any tension.
It is simplistic and straightforward and sometimes lacks the power to convince you.
Nelson displays a knack for understanding the milieu and he gets the setting correct- the crowded locality where Farhana stays is interspersed with a bustling market, the call center and the city.
Aishwarya is sincere and her Farhana is determined, vulnerable and even flawed to some extent. She is on a roll after four back to back releases in the last 5 months.
The characters in Farhana are well defined and their attire gives an authentic feel to the film. Jitan Ramesh as Farhana's husband Karim tops this chart.
But the overlong narrative (2 hours and 20 minutes) which centers on the platonic relationship between Farhana and the antagonists developed through telephonic conversation could have been trimmed as it routinely falls into tedious stretches.
Behind the camera, it’s Justin Prabhakaran’s intriguing background score and dialogues by Nelson, Shankar Dass and Manushyaputhiran that add flavour to the film. I have watched the film in Hindi and here, the dialogues sound quite pedestrian though.
But I found the climax quite underwhelming. It falls flat. And I am a tad awkward with the under-represented portrayal of the Muslim community.
Going with 2.5 stars out of 5 for Farhana
Ahwaan Padhee, is an IT Techie/Business Consultant by profession and a film critic/cinephile by passion, is also associated with Radio Playback as well, loves writing and conducting movie quizzes. More By Ahwaan Padhee