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Joshua: Imai Pol Kaakha movie review – Tamil director Gautham Vasudev Menon (GVM) has a splendid filmography and is known for his romantic films and action thrillers. With Joshua: Imai Pol Kaakha, the director has ventured into somewhat new territory and he has tried to take the audience on this detour with him.
There are no big names attached to Joshua unlike Menon’s previous films and that in itself lets the audience know that they need to keep their expectations low and inquisitiveness high. GVM’s heroes are always suave, well-dressed, articulate and romantic, but with an aggressive streak that can take out the bad man in a second. And it’s the characters that Kamal Haasan, Suriya and Silambarasan played in his films which you think of instinctively. And the big question that comes to mind when we see his latest release is – what happened with Joshua: Imai Pol Kaakha? This film is perhaps the most disappointing in GVM’s otherwise good repertoire.
The plot
Joshua (Varun Kamalakannan) is a hitman for hire and he is entrusted with providing protection to lawyer Kundhavi Chidambaram (Raahei) (think John Wick and Bodyguard) as she was taking on a big drug baron in court. Dhivyadharshini aka DD plays Madhavi, who works with Joshua as a team, while Krishna Kulasekaran appears as a gangster. Joshua and Kudhavi initially fall in love then break up, and the rest is history. As expected, there are plenty of shootouts, romantic scenes and running around involved as we progress through the film.
The verdict
When it comes to their acting chops, both Varun and Raahei are lacking in this department, unfortunately. Varun dons a suit and has pretty much the same expression throughout the film, while Raahei looks pretty but can’t seem to emote. One must add though that Varun has performed well in the action sequences which have been well choreographed by Yannick Ben. DD does an OK job but again, there is hardly substance in her character. Interestingly, Krishna has fared better than all of them in this film. While the cast may have put in tremendous effort for their roles, it doesn’t show on screen thanks to a weak storyline and lame dialogues. GVM’s films have always been known for their music but Joshua’s music by Darbuka Siva and Karthik really falls short.
It’s extremely hard to appreciate Gautham Vasudev Menon’s latest flick since his previous films completely overshadow Joshua in terms of the story, screenplay, performances and music. And it is surprising to see how an ace director, who has delivered some big hits could have directed this film, which hardly has anything going for it. Luckily, the runtime of the film is just 130 minutes so the movie breezes by easily, but nothing about it leaves an impact once you step out of the theatre. Some would say that a seasoned director can extract the best performance even from a newcomer, but GVM has had a tough proposition with Joshua on all fronts. It is definitely time for the director to go back to the drawing board and come back with the exciting on screen magic he is known for.
