When one of your favourite actors, who also happens to be one of India's greatest actors, turns director, it goes without saying that you look forward to the film with considerably high expectations. Barroz, directed by and starring Mohanlal, has a story that's supposed to generate a sense of wonder and awe, and, hopefully, some measure of emotional attachment. In a nutshell, this is a story of a ghost tasked with guarding Vasco da Gama's treasure for hundreds of years and is now looking for someone trustworthy to take over. And given how the film is presented in 3D, you expect to see sights you've never seen before.
But when in the first twenty minutes you are trying hard to fight the urge to doze off, you know it's not a good sign. So, I decided to endure it no matter what, hoping for some form of respite, at least somewhere in the last hour. Unfortunately, that didn't happen, and by the time the film ended, some of us in the audience were audibly expressing our complete disappointment.
This is a film that seems hell-bent on torturing you almost every minute. As I walked out of the theatre, I kept asking myself, "How come one of Kerala's and India's greatest actors, with decades of experience behind him, made one of the all-time worst directorial debuts?" Watching Barroz is like being subjected to a boring corporate event where everyone talks like a robot. It also feels like watching a compilation of all the worst ads that you have seen in your lifetime — to be more specific, 'Malayalam-language' ads featuring non-Malayalam actors that play in theatres. Barroz has actors from India and abroad, everyone doing their best to irritate us with their jarringly terrible performances and dubbing, especially lead actor Maya Rao West.
Maya plays Isabella da Gama, the potential heir with whom Barroz relentlessly attempts to establish contact. I found every scene involving them unbearable. If what Mohanlal intended to achieve out of these scenes is warmth and playfulness, he has failed miserably, because the more I saw their interactions, the more I wished for one of these characters to be put out of their misery. In short, every actor in this film seems to be competing for the worst actor trophy. (By the way, what the hell was Minnal Murali-fame Guru Somasundaram doing in this?)
And when the film starts tormenting us with songs that sound unintentionally funny, particularly the one sung by Mohanlal, we know it has overstayed its welcome. The most baffling choice is having a song with an animated version of Isabella in a CGI-generated underwater world interacting with a giant octopus with the voice of Mohanlal. But when you realise that her real version doesn't behave too differently, it's better not to think too much about it because the film has already become a lost cause. And I don't even want to get into the overall design, special effects (the only competent aspect) and fight sequences (shoddy), because... what's the point?
In India, some filmmakers have this misconception that you can defend some of the cheesiest script and execution choices by saying, "It is meant for kids and family audiences." Why does it always have to be that? You can still make a kid-friendly movie with mature and exceptional performances and dialogues without making even the grownups in the audience suffer. The best example is Martin Scorsese's Hugo, a 3D movie headlined by kids, but written, staged, performed, and edited in the most extraordinary fashion. Or what about Steven Spielberg's The BFG, also featuring a kid and an animated character? Why is it that Indian filmmakers always resort to lame justifications? Today's kids have more evolved tastes. Why expect them to have archaic standards?
Film: Barroz
Director: Mohanlal
Cast: Mohanlal, Maya Rao West, Tuhin Menon, Guru Somasundaram
Rating: 1/5
