By Bharath Vijayakumar
Like Naane Varuven earlier this year, we walk into Gold not knowing much about it. At least, Naane Varuven had a teaser, that kind of gave an idea on what to expect. In the case of Gold, even the teaser did not give anything away. But Alphonse had mentioned in his personal page on social media not to expect a Neram or a Premam. He had also mentioned that Gold kind of leans more towards the former. Well, yes, Gold is definitely in the zone of Neram and is a comedy built around a thin plot. Joshi (Prithviraj) finds a vehicle that has been parked at the entrance of his house. What follows is a thriller comedy with Joshi at the centre of events.
The film starts in Alphonse’s trademark style thanking a whole lot of people, as their names appear on screen accompanied by Rajesh Murugesan’s peppy score. The list seemed endless and at a point I actually wondered if the reason for the film’s delayed release was due to Alphonse making sure that he did not miss to thank anyone. The plot kicks in right away as the very first scene has Joshi discovering the vehicle in his front yard. By this time already, you are having a smile as there is this musical vibe that Alphonse is so good at. A simple jump by Prithviraj across a compound wall is treated like a choreographed sequence and the film already seems like a music video. This kind of treatment sees the first hour sail through relatively smoothly because it is not something we get to see in other films. The comedy works at places. Nothing that has you laughing out loud but a chuckle here and there. There is also this hope that the film would have some surprises in store. But sadly, Gold doesn’t really take off at any point of time. Take Neram for instance. That was a two-hour film. It had few quirky characters but at the centre there was a protagonist who was up against something. We were invested in his fate. Gold is definitely a much lighter film. It isn’t a dark comedy like Premam. But we almost have zero interest in what Joshi is upto. There is some tension here and there leading up to the reveal but by and large we aren’t really rooting for him or anything. Again, that might not be the film’s intention but when the comedy isn’t really working, there needs to be something that keeps us hooked. Alphonse’s style of treatment does this for a while, but this is a film that runs close to three hours. In fact, after a point, the kind of style that worked wonderfully well in aiding the storytelling in Premam, sort of becomes tiring here. Not sure if I wasn’t able to appreciate the purpose behind it but the shots of butterflies, grasshoppers and the kind, felt random and indulgent. Characters keep coming in and their quirky names get displayed on screen. There is style all right, but the quirkiness of their names hardly translates to any convincing quirky comedy.
There are some nice touches that work. For instance, we are introduced to a character about to commit suicide. We learn soon that the reason was his financial status. Soon after he gets his hands on some money, the first thing he does is order some food for his family. The sentimentality is muted but the emotion gets registered. It is such a nice scene to have for someone who isn’t a major character in the film. There is another scene in Joshi’s mobile shop involving a small-time goon and a military officer. This was the only scene where I could hear collective laughter in the auditorium. This is the kind of humour that you want to see in a film like this. Not the loud kind involving Lalu Alex as ‘Idea Shaji’. And before I forget, Alphonse seems to have a thing for police stations that have a roadblock. If the station in Neram was undergoing renovation, the station here has a literal roadblock at its entrance. The film also surprisingly ends a bit conventionally with a little message. The title lends itself to different meaning in the climax. This Gold isn’t the metal which melts, it rather signifies a melting heart.
Chanakya
December 2, 2022
If not for the quirky title cards and editing gimmicks, I would not have believed this film was made by the same Alphonse Puthren who made Neram and Premam. Good god, it was excruciating to sit through. One of the most boring films I have seen in recent times.
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Vignaprasad
December 2, 2022
I don’t know why people are upholding Neram still, it is a mediocre film
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Chanakya
December 2, 2022
@Vignaprasad: I don’t rate Neram as highly as Premam. But I usually judge debut films a bit generously. ‘Gold’ would make Neram look like a masterpiece. It felt like an amateurish student film. The climax was a real slap in the face.
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SorenKierky
December 5, 2022
Neram was pretty much a sophomore effort – but there were flashes of brilliance and humor + songs worked out fine. Premam was just a knockout, so well layered, textured, great humor, great music – impressive albeit showy editing. The most important thing is that movie came together very well despite everything. There was good emotional connect. And the movie had no trailers or promos, was very low key (till the song released and became a hit pre release) and people were just blown away by what they saw after all this.
Now Gold – had nearly zero promotions, zero buzz, but here it backfired. The movie was not terrible but didn’t come together half as well. Characters were barely etched out – there were zillion random guest roles that add nothing (and in Premam those in between “filler” sort of scenes actually added to the movie, this is just an overkill that does zilch), humor didn’t work nearly as well, music was good but not as great. And gawd, the insane overkill of slow-mo/stylized shots (the movie is 2.45 hrs FFS). The showiness sticks out MASSIVELY. And to top all that – that epilogue was just super random and cringey. There were a bunch of redeeming scenes – mostly comedy (the iPhone scene was hilarious, and the goldsmith’s suicide attempt stuff wasn’t executed well enough but that was a good touch), but what a fall for AP from Premam! He shouldn’t be going back to Neram-esque material anymore, I’m sure he can do better.
There’s insanely bad WOM – the cinema I had been to had like 10 people tops and that’s the first weekend. Didn’t deserve this fate, but the movie really tests your patience often for an “entertainer” and thankfully is massively bolstered by the score.
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SorenKierky
December 5, 2022
And it was sad to see the “Missed you audience for the past 7 years” at the end of this movie to top everything. 😦
PS: Prithviraj was horribly miscast, someone like Nivin would have been better (although IDK if he can pull it off now). But that’s the least of the film’s problems.
PPS: BR, surprised to see you skip this. Expected your review as this is AP’s comeback film post-Premam. This might leave cinemas soon is what I’m guessing 😦
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rsylviana
December 5, 2022
@BR – Please check out Alphonse Puthren’s latest FB post. Paavam, the man has openly declared that he is waiting for your review of the film.
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SorenKierky
December 5, 2022
Yeah, the guy’s lost it. I can understand, it’s been a long and he’s put in great efforts, he’s tried to make it different maybe, but the output is mediocre. Perhaps it’s a bit too OTT criticism, but it’s really half-baked. Doesn’t help anyone that he’s lashing out at the public like this. Didn’t work for most, move on.
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SorenKierky
December 6, 2022
BR’s review: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u7LXRe_O6Us
I concur, more I think about it, more I get irked about how Alphonse thought this would work in this state.
Take Thallumala for instance, the plot is so straightforward and silly, but it comes together beautifully with the well-staged fights, the aesthetics, and never tests your patience. Insane fun. If Alphonse was looking for that, he should have gone all the way and made a wacky fun film. This is nowhere. The iPhone scene shows how fun this could have been, but can’t believe all this long delays has amounted to… well, this.
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