Some films inadvertently throw up scenes or an exchange of dialogues that can mislead us about our expectations from the film. Early on in Nadirshah’s Once Upon a Time in Kochi, we hear the voice of Jaffer Idukki making a typical cinematic narration of the dark underbelly of a city, only to be cut short by the policeman questioning him — “Are you a writer to give such an elaborate description? Stick just to the events of that night”.
That scene would appear to be written by someone who is quite self-aware about the material at hand. But then, for the remaining two hours, one gets to see a screenwriter who treats with all seriousness the laughable drama about drug cartels that follows. That one scene which misleads the viewer remains one of the few tolerable ones among a host of unbearable ones.
Young police officer Anand Das (Arjun Ashokan) goes missing while he is hot on the pursuit of a dreaded drug racket, setting off a police hunt for him. Also caught in the many connected events of the night are Hibi (Mubin M.Rafi, son of screenwriter Rafi) and Janaki (Devika Sanjay), both of whom dream of building a better life abroad but have got themselves entangled in some shady deals.
Once Upon a Time in Kochi (Malayalam)
Director: Nadirshah
Cast: Arjun Ashokan, Devika Sanjay, Mubin M.Rafi, Shine Tom Chacko
Storyline: A police officer, who is on hot pursuit of a drug cartel, goes missing setting off a city-wide hunt
Runtime: 141 minutes
Nadirshah, who made a string of mildly entertaining films with problematic messages, attempts a slightly different track here. Things are dead serious right from the beginning, although there are a few failed attempts at infusing some humour into the plot. But, at no point in the film does the script written by Rafi manage to hold the viewer’s interest. Nor does one manage to make an emotional connection to any of the flatly-written characters.
The love story at the centre of it seems to be written half-heartedly; the one slightly interesting part is the police officer’s ‘pennu kaanal’ scene where his investigator’s instincts kick in, mistaking talcum powder for cocaine. His disappointments at being sidelined by his senior officer who hogs all the media limelight for his hard work and the personal reasons for his anger against the drug mafia all held promise to be developed into something better, but all of it is squandered in the end.
The rotten cherry on top of the unappetising cake is a reference to Romancham’s background music and Arjun Ashokan’s expression from that film. When all else fails, bring in a reference; but, here the reference to a popular hit too fails by the sheer insincere way in which it is being used. This is no surprise given how half-baked the film is. Once Upon a Time in Kochi is a rather forgettable attempt at creating a ‘comedy thriller’ given how none of its attempts at being funny or thrilling manage to work.
Once Upon a Time in Kochi is currently running in theatres