Ritu -Review
By Cine Critic | 29th August, 2009| 10:20:33

 

Shyamaprasad’s Ritu is a sensitive, melancholic portrayal of tumultuous emotions that ravage three young minds basking on the pinnacle of success. It is an engrossing, intricate slice-of-life that deftly captures the nuances of growing up together and finally growing apart.

Ritu revolves around Sarath (Nishan), Varsha (Rima) and Sunny (Asif Ali), who were almost inseparable as friends since their childhood days and grew up with love, bonding and innocence in the same neighbourhood, then went their separate ways in search of careers. After working in the IT sector for several years, Sharath has returned from the US and traces his friends. He wants Varsha (Rima) and Sunny (Asif) to join him on a new project in an IT firm run by Zareena (Jaya Menon).
 
Sharath wishes to bring back what they had missed in the course of attempting to make it big in their professional careers to his and his friends' lives. Without any hesitation, Varsha and Sunny join him in his new place. But soon Sarath realizes that the reunion has brought nothing special to him. The films talks about the trio's dreams, pressures, anxieties and changing mindsets in a refreshing way.The three main characters have been played quite convincingly by the three newcomers. Nishan's performance as Sharath is good and Rima (Rima Kallingal) emotes well as Varsha, though she could have been better. Asif as Sunny is average. The rest of the cast, including journalist K.Govindankutty (who plays Sarath's father) and filmmaker M.G. Sasi (as an idealistic Leftist and his elder brother), needs special mention for their good performances.

On the other hand, Shyamaprasad and Joshua Newton have failed in the way they have picturized the IT industry in Kerala. They have generalized things based on their conception of the IT sector; most IT professionals in the state do not live the way those in the film seem to be living: boozing, partying, speaking only English or anglicized Malayalam. Coming to the script, the climax is well worked out and is touching, but is there isn't a single scene that establishes the depth of the friendship shared by the key characters.

The best thing about Ritu is the maturity of the theme. Usually, the mindsets, thinking and passions of today's youngsters are narrated with certain prejudices in movies, but in Ritu, they are accepted as they are. With a nice script, the film has some memorable moments, but still, things would have been even better if some of the clichéd situations in the film were trimmed down.

Rahul Raj's music is in tune with the mood. Songs like 'Pularumo Raavu' and 'Kukkukoo Theevandi' have come out very well. The other songs don't impress much. Camerawork by Shyam Dutt is good as is editing by Vinod Sukumaran and art by Premachandran.

Verdict: Above Average