PremiumNight Drive movie review: Roshan Mathew, Anna Ben, Indrajith’s unpredictability steer this slick thriller
Though Night Drive starts off as an atypical Vysakh thriller and eventually veers towards the director’s familiar territory, the refreshing casting choices do the film a world of good
Last Updated: 01.06 PM, Mar 11, 2022
Story: Tourism minister Rajan Kurup is set to be arrested by the National Investigation Agency in 24 hours, on grounds of being involved in a gold smuggling case. On the same night, Riya, a journalist who breaks the case, and her boyfriend Georgy lock horns with police officer Benni Moopen and hurt the latter’s ego. But as fate would have it, the duo gets themselves tangled in an accident, which isn’t all that it seems to be. How the lives of Rajan Kurup, Riya, Georgy and Benni Moopen intertwine on the same night and who walks away scot-free at the end of it form the plot of Vysakh’s thriller.
Review: Director Vysakh is synonymous with big budget ‘mass’ entertainers like Pulimurugan and Madhuraraja of late. But at the start of his career through movies such as Seniors, he has also shown he has the uncanny knack of entertaining the audience through a clever mix of twists and ‘mass’ elements, while keeping the audience engaged. Add new-age actors such as Roshan Mathew and Anna Ben, who are mostly known for their realistic films, into the mix and the filmmaker has the advantage of making his characters unpredictable, which works so well in Night Drive that is a refreshing change from his usual entertainers.
The film largely belongs to its three protagonists – Anna, Roshan and Indrajith Sukumaran – and Abhilash Pillai, who has written its script, uses the aforementioned unpredictability to the hilt to keep the story moving in riveting fashion. For both Anna and Roshan, it’s a new genre and both prove that they are more than capable of acing it. As Georgy, a good-natured Uber driver who is pushed to the corner after an accident and multiple attempts to frame him and Riya for a crime, Vysakh gives Roshan enough room to play a character that he has hitherto not done. It’s also what drives the ‘mass’ elements of the film and Roshan’s star turn is delightful.
Anna too seems to have fun with her character of a journalist who doesn’t back down. In fact, in the first half, it’s Anna who gets the best scenes, especially during her stand-off with circle inspector Benni Moopen. Indrajith, who plays the cop in the film, proves again why he’s the most versatile character around – handling all shades of his character seamlessly, while also letting his co-stars have their space. Credit must be given to the writer and filmmaker for showing the different sides of the characters while weaving in their past and present in a story that is set in just one night.
While the first half is an engrossing thriller with enough elements of comedy and romance, the latter half slows down as it focuses on the investigation and the set-up of the crime. This is where the movie moves towards Vysakh’s familiar territory of a ‘mass’ entertainer – with kidnapping, fights in a warehouse and punch dialogues. The novelty here stems from the fact that the characters who elevate these sequences aren’t whom the audience are used to seeing. Apart from the trio, Siddique, who plays the minister, and Prashant Alexander, who is the comic relief in the film, also get notable screen time.
Shaji Kumar’s cinematography is slick, with its blue tones, and editor Sunil S Pillai ensures that the film is paced just right for a thriller that has enough twists. Ranjin Raj music also boosts the ‘mass’ scenes.
Verdict: Though Night Drive starts off as an atypical Vysakh thriller and eventually veers towards the director’s familiar territory, the refreshing casting choices do the film a world of good in making it entertaining. At less than two hours, the movie makes for a good, breezy thriller.