Medium : Malayalam
Starring : Kunjakko Boban, Biju Menon, Asif Ali, Jishnu, Lalu Alex, Baburaj, Salim Kumar, Hemanth, Dharmajan, Shridha Sivadas, Ann Agustine, Vaigha
Director : Sugeeth
Music : Vidyasagar

The new malayalam release 'Ordinary' comes from a new team. The title itself is interesting and as expected, the movie deals with the bus journey and its associated incidents. The conductor and the driver of the particular bus are the lead characters in the story. Kunjakko Boban and Biju Menon have done the respective roles here, their combination coming after 'Spanish Masala' by Lal Jose.

The movie is directed by Sugeeth, a long time assistant to director Kamal. Cinematographer Faisal Ali is a new comer. Script writers Nishad K.Koya and Manu Prasad are also new faces. A new heroine is introduced, Shridha Sivadas. V.Saajan is the editor. Music director Vidyasagar had given six songs for the movie, a couple of them is already there in the hit charts. The location selected for telling the story is a fresh one, it is shot in the hilly areas of Idukki and Pathanamthitta, especially Gavi.

Iravi (Kunjakko Boban) is newly appointed in KSRTC, as a conductor. He gets the duty in the bus that is traveling to the village of Gavi. Suku (Biju Menon) is the driver of the particular bus. The bus has got its halt in the village at night, both of them stays at the quarters. Iravi soon gets in touch with the villagers. He started loving Kalyani (Shridha Sivadas), working as a low level marketing person in a private company. As everything was going fine, an expected incident has happened now. It has changed the life of few people in the village.

The story and the presentation of the movie, particularly the first half portions are excellent. The new locations and the interior portions of the bus altogether gave an attractive feel. Those areas are filled with many humor oriented dialogues, some of them received good claps also. Though the starting of the movie was ordinary, it takes the real punch, once the journey of the bus started.

They all have gone in the second half. That area is serious and biased. The reason told here for the crucial incident happened in the interval portion, is a cliche. The inclusion of the pathos song was unwanted. The climax should have been more realistic and more over it is predictable also. The performance of Asif Ali and Ann Agustine in the whole movie is not up to the mark. Even though, dubbing artist Vimmi Mariam tried very hard to keep the stability of Ann's character, it was not enough to save the role. An emotional scene by Ann and the one at the end by Asif didn't came up to the mark, due to their lack of stability in handling them. A couple of lady characters need more definition.

Kunjakko Boban did the lead role in his style. But, the real show stealer is none other than Biju Menon, who gave an impressive show in the Palakkad slang. After Thiruvananthapuram and Trissur, it is time for another district that is getting a prominence through a movie's character. Baburaj has got some humor oriented scenes, which he managed well. Salim Kumar is natural in the small role. Shridha Sivadas is ok.

The new cinematographer Faisal Ali had done a top class job, by giving some neat and colorful visuals. Editor V.Saajan gave a good support with his experience. 'Enthinee Mizhi...' and 'Zun Zun...' are the good songs by Vidyasagar. His bg score is also excellent. Songs are visualized well. Action scenes are done in a realistic manner. Art director Suresh Kollam's craft is known through the interior portions of the bus and the set up at the village center.

New script writers Nishad K.Koya and Manu Prasad have created attention by building a travelogue subject. As a debutant, director Sugeeth, who is also the story writer, had done a good attempt. The presentation of the movie gives the feeling that he has got a great future ahead.

With a good first half, Ordinary is a watchable movie. Keep in mind, the post interval portions have got few loop holes and it ends up in an ordinary way only.

Rating : 6.5 / 10