'Lokah Chapter 1 Chandra' Review: A Sweeping Tale Let Down by its Obsession to Build a Franchise

Two new Malayalam films that released last week primed and timed for the big ticket Onam box office window have hit paydirt. Mohanlal starrer Hridayapoorvam and Kalyani Priyadarshan and Naslen starrer ‘Lokah: Chapter 1 Chandra’ arrived with the usual pre-release buzz and fanfare and both were welcomed by moviegoers with open arms, especially the latter, a production by Dulquer Salmaan that is currently on a record breaking spree for a Malayalam film both in Kerala as well as across the globe.Excellent word of mouth for the Kalyani starrer soon overwhelmed the Mohanlal film, which is now playing catch-up to the huge box office numbers being raked up by Lokah. Interestingly, the majority of the movie reviews for Lokah turned out to be positive adding to the increasing curiosity among cinegoers to catch it in theatres. With the Malayali diaspora spread strong across the country the producers ensured that the multiplexes had enough shows per day to satiate audience interest, especially in the west and north India where regional films tend to have limited screens. In Kerala, Lokah is looking at an assured long-time run, as it zooms to outpace and leave behind the films it released with or any new ones ready to open in the coming weeks.While Lokah aims to serve a perfect Onasadya (Onam feast), sadly the first-half meanders, taking its own sweet time, as if requesting the audience to patiently wait for what it has to offer in the second half, say a tangy rasam or a concoction of stewed veggies (avial) to go with our parboiled Kerala rice. There is more of the same served after interval, albeit with a smattering of star cameos, but post the final serving of payasam (sweet pudding) after what has now been a long drawn out meal, the feeling is of having seen and tasted it all before, burp!Inspired by the multi-verse of folklore, myth, and fantasy, superhero-tinted scripts nowadays can go any which way you want it to, just mix it all in a giant Getafix cauldron and throw the buddies in the writers room some hooks to churn out a script that primarily defies any logic. Well, blame it all on Hollywood (Marvel, DC) probably, or even our own SS Rajamouli (Baahubali, RRR) or those at Hombale Films (Kantara/Mahavtar Narsimha) and well there is Maddock Films (Munjya, Stree and their upcoming Thama) too. Producer Dulquer Salmaan’s only advice to his writers would have been, let’s not scream pan-India guys, keep it rooted in the land of Mahabali.So there we have it, a Malayalam superhero flick with the protagonist Chandra/Neeli and friends laying a foundation for future sequels and prequels under its own franchise or whatever more the bubbling cauldron can throw up. To reap the dividends and to step up the shock and awe factor, key elements of drama, comedy and a small dose of horror is thrown in. We need the family crowds lining up you see, remember Onam extended holiday week and all?Sadly, Lokah plays safe, preferring to tick the mandatory boxes of the conventional superhero (okay, female), probably future multi-superhero, cinematic universe format. India's first, world-building, indigenous, feminist superhero is all fine but with all the strands thrown in, proceedings rarely gain momentum to keep one invested enough. While predictability is a given, the movie begins to feel stretched towards the end, with a couple of ‘miss em at your own cost’ teaser scenes of future characters/installments doing their duty in the post-credits run, yawn! Marvel Introduces Its First Israeli Superhero; Faces Backlash on TwitterThere were a few threads that Lokah could have strongly picked up, going down the Ryan Coogler Sinners pathway with a little sinister and a home-grown touch but it never did.There is definitely a deftness in some early parts of the writing of Lokah as we are introduced to Chandra who is in the process of making herself a temporary home in a washed out housing colony in contemporary Bengaluru. Present day Chandra’s origin story is traced to Kalliyankattu Neeli, a yakshi (female vampire) who while a little girl dared to remove a piece of jewellery ordained for the gods worshipped by the king; the missing piece is placed by Neeli and her friends in front of a ‘lesser’ God that they revere. Angered by what has transpired, the king commands those behind this blasphemy to be put to the sword, literally. The dying exhortation of Neeli’s mother to fight all evil becomes her motto in the various life forms she inhabits over the centuries. Our Chandra is a loner, does her 9-5 at a nearby bakery and is only affected by the vibrant rays of sunlight. She is a night person cleaning up Bengaluru of all the baddies. Some of these bold strokes manage to pin the story and how it unfolds in a neat manner, with little Neeli representing the marginalised, forest-dwelling community transitioning into the chic and svelte Chandra in the present day, bigger and madder world.If Neeli’s antagonist was the vile and evil king in the days of yore, Chandra’s present-day nemesis is Nachiyappa Gowda (played by Sandy Master) a police officer with a perennial sneer and unbridled hate towards women. Chandra’s dubious activities raise a storm in the neighbourhood, especially among a few jobless boys next door with a window to her world that is unfortunately plastered with old newspapers. Naslen Gafoor (Premalu, Alappuzha Gymkhana) the current heartthrob in Malayalam cinema playing one of the boys bumbles along being petrified by his neighbour’s dubious antics and later besotted by her otherworldly charm. In the second half Malayalam star Tovino Thomas plays the chathan (goblin) coming in to provide a few laughs, but by then the writing and screenplay takes on a lot burdened by setting the stage for future endeavours.Dulquer's 'King of Kotha' Lights Up Times Square: A First for Malayalam CinemaIntentionally or not, big films always like to dance with the devil of controversy and really dig idle banter, especially those uttered by our invisible ‘netizens’ on social media who are any way given way too much priority and standing than poor ordinary citizens working hard to increase the country’s GDP. But as seen in the past, producers and those associated with the venture are ever ready to publish their heartfelt apologies to appease these unseen mob or two, even probably just bots doing their thing on the world vile web.As did Prithviraj Sukumaran with Empuraan early this year, so too did Dulquer’s Wayfarer films (producers) of Lokah rushing to apologise for its fictional character Gowda’s dialogues. So why the disclaimer then, is the moot question. If you stand by your creative work of art and soul then just point these so-called gatekeepers of everyone’s collective conscience to the five second disclaimer certificate at the start of the film. This, however, is the existential reality of cinema and entertainment in our country today. Chauvinistic regionalism and self-appointed torch bearers with pseudo-religious agendas are on a fanged, never-ending hunt for their place in the sun, even if our fairy tale, phantastic blood-thirsty vampires are not.(The writer is based in New Delhi and writes of films, entertainment and contemporary issues.This is an opinion piece and the views expressed above are the author’s own. The Quint neither endorses nor is responsible for the same.)Power and Prejudice: How Mohanlal-Led AMMA Failed Women in Malayalam Cinema

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Dulquer Salmaan’s only advice to his writers must have been, 'let’s not scream pan-India, keep it rooted to Kerala'.

An Onam Feast

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Topics: Dulquer Salmaan Film Review Malayalam