Bottle Radha Review – An Adequate Drama on Alcohol De-Addiction!
Bottle Radha Review – An Adequate Drama on Alcohol De-Addiction!
Bottle Radha Review – An Adequate Drama on Alcohol De-Addiction!
Ashwin Ram
Bottle Radha is a dramatic flick starring Guru Somasundaram, Sanchana Natarajan and John Vijay in the lead roles. Directed by debutant Dinakaran Sivalingam and the music is scored by Sean Roldan.
Premise:
Guru Somasundaram is an addictive alcoholic, his family goes through a lot because of it. His wife Sanchana Natarajan admits him at a rehabilitation centre, what happens after he undergoes treatment there forms the remaining story.
Writing/ Direction:
The opening scene is so layered, neatly establishes the hierarchy among the construction site labourers, Guru Somasundaram’s way of thinking and also the height of his drinking addiction. Followed by introducing his family backdrop, their struggles with a full time drunkard at home and later on the script organically moves into rehabilitation. The scenes created at the de-addiction centre are fresh and the world is realistically conveyed. Despite the dry subject, actor Maaran entertains with his humorous one-liners in which many are developed during dubbing. Many characters for us to feel for in spite of their shortcomings, the hero is probably the one person who angers the viewers the most and that’s because we deeply root for him not to drink. The Shawshank Redemption reference, plus the psychic treatment to enhance the interval block trend was a banger. The latter part falters from being an engaging one at many places, the drinking gets repetitive and the screenplay suffers to get back on track. Randomly placing a bar song and a fellowman’s death was so clichéd. The Alcoholics Anonymous meeting speeches were preachy, and became message-heavy all of a sudden. Thankfully the final act lands as a saviour, the soul of the story gets back to life ensuring a big smile on the artists’ faces and also on ours. The visions of the lead pair’s love track add up to the emotional values, also showcasing how the lives of many affected men have drastically changed over a period of time, Guru Somasundaram getting back to work which is what he was best at and John Vijay narrating his backstory being the major turning point.
Performances:
Such a realistic act by Guru Somasundaram as an alcoholic, he has truly relished his transition portions towards the end which is evident on-screen. Sanchana Natarajan has nailed it as a household woman, an instantly relatable character for the nonsense she puts up with. Big relief to see John Vijay perform subtly, masterstroke casting by the director, a character who had a rough past but having a calm and composed life now, for the loud actor he was before, there could not be a better choice to play this mature role. At places, Maaran turns the film into a commercially viable one with his clap-worthy comedy dialogues.
Technicalities:
Sean Roldan’s sincerity is sure to be lauded, every track is so good here, even the needless bar song has a funky choreography and quirky lyrics. Background score travels along with the thick of the flow, works in all aspects and emotions. Camera work has got that framing finesse, no complaints with the visuals that clearly convey the mood that the filmmaker intended to. Flat editing, the timeline transitions are just verbal, also the dragging second half could have had some sharp trimming.
Bottomline
Typical outline where the hero does something throughout the movie and conveys a message against it at the end. Yet a noble content taken decently, the first hour is a safe-bet, essential arc but a crisper later half would have made it a better outing.
Rating – 2.75/ 5
