Movie Review: Traffic
The 2011 Malayalam film "Traffic" is a multi-narrative thriller that intertwines multiple stories around one particular incident. The narrative of the film has been told in the hyperlink format dealing with plot twists, interwoven storylines between multiple characters. The film follows the life of six main characters--an aspiring journalist Raihan (Vineeth Srinivasan) and his friend Rajeev (Asif Ali), who are travelling in a bike and are fatally hit by a speeding car at a signal, a superstar Sidharth Shankar (Rahman) who is getting ready for the release of his new film, a young cardiac surgeon Abel (Kunchako Boban), City Police Commissioner Ajmal Nazar (Anup Menon) and a traffic constable Sudevan (Srinivasan).
The story takes place on a certain September 16 at a crowded traffic junction in Kochi. It has been an inspired from a real-life event that happened in Chennai. As the film follows the hyperlink format, an accident changes their lives forever and how they tackle with it is what the story is essentially about. I'd like not to spill the beans here by furthering the story here.
As a film by itself, it is a complete edge-of-the-seat thriller movie with the screenplay which progresses really fast. If you tend to deviate a bit, you lose track of the film. It completes hooks you in by almost taking you to the middle of the action in the screenplay. Every character in the movie has an equal importance as the story moves ahead and they are etched out quite well. The film progresses in a very brisk manner. The interval punch is brilliant which makes you keep guessing till the end. The positive trend in the movie is the absence of a regular hero and an actress since everyone has been given equal role.
The brilliant background music by Mejo Joseph does wonders for the movie as it helps takes the story forward and also accelerates the level of tension in the film at the right places. The cinematography by Shyju Khalid deserves accolades for so capturing the intricacies of a busy traffic junction and then following the journey. Traffic is a brutally brilliant film in which the filmmaker lends colour to coincidence and unveils before us a cognition on the dynamics of chance. It is a strikingly crafted film which is raw and genuine, it crawls right under your skin and stays there.
Summing up, there is an inherent sincerity about it which makes Traffic a genuine movie of recent times. It is a perfect entertainer which provides the thrills at the right places and instills a sense of fear and does not fail to amuse you as a viewer. Though the film has average production values, it is an overwhelming experience. If you like edge-of-the-seat thrillers, don't miss Traffic!
The story takes place on a certain September 16 at a crowded traffic junction in Kochi. It has been an inspired from a real-life event that happened in Chennai. As the film follows the hyperlink format, an accident changes their lives forever and how they tackle with it is what the story is essentially about. I'd like not to spill the beans here by furthering the story here.
As a film by itself, it is a complete edge-of-the-seat thriller movie with the screenplay which progresses really fast. If you tend to deviate a bit, you lose track of the film. It completes hooks you in by almost taking you to the middle of the action in the screenplay. Every character in the movie has an equal importance as the story moves ahead and they are etched out quite well. The film progresses in a very brisk manner. The interval punch is brilliant which makes you keep guessing till the end. The positive trend in the movie is the absence of a regular hero and an actress since everyone has been given equal role.
The brilliant background music by Mejo Joseph does wonders for the movie as it helps takes the story forward and also accelerates the level of tension in the film at the right places. The cinematography by Shyju Khalid deserves accolades for so capturing the intricacies of a busy traffic junction and then following the journey. Traffic is a brutally brilliant film in which the filmmaker lends colour to coincidence and unveils before us a cognition on the dynamics of chance. It is a strikingly crafted film which is raw and genuine, it crawls right under your skin and stays there.
Summing up, there is an inherent sincerity about it which makes Traffic a genuine movie of recent times. It is a perfect entertainer which provides the thrills at the right places and instills a sense of fear and does not fail to amuse you as a viewer. Though the film has average production values, it is an overwhelming experience. If you like edge-of-the-seat thrillers, don't miss Traffic!
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