The PVR
Mahagun Mall was packed with a crowd of Malayalis who had gathered to watch Director
Joshiy’s Run Baby Run, starring Mohanlal and Amala Paul. The excitement and anticipation was almost electric. Right from the beginning, this film takes
you through a gripping portrayal of how warring TV news channels stoop to new lows so that they can 'break news.' It also reveals the media gimmicks involved, the conflicts
and the greed for name, fame and money among other things.
Reuters Venu: A Lovable, Irreverent Professional Cameraman
Mohanlal plays the role
of “Reuters Venu” who is a high profile news camera man who is wooed by all big
TV channel during his short visits to Kochi
The leading lady Amala
Paul plays the role of a bold, aggressive and ambitios executive editor of
‘Bharath Vision.’
For a change, the leading lady’s make up and clothes are
smartly done and not looking like they have been rented out from some dinghy
shop that would cater to colourfully dressed characters. Her body language is
confident and poised. She has all the makings of some one who can be an
Executive Producer in a TV channel, corporate style of course.
At the beginning
of the film, we are left to wonder for a while how she had started at a junior
level and suddenly catapulted into the higher ranks but later the mystery is
solved in bits and pieces. She minces no words. She deals ‘soft’ blows easily
especially to colleagues.
The tension between “Reuters Venu” and “Renuka” is
well portrayed, electric and deeply sensual. The moment they are assigned to
work together, we know that we can expect nothing less than well timed retorts,
dialogues and yes, all the fireworks that is expected of a sizzling on-screen
couple.
Run Baby
Run: What I liked
Mohan Lal’s performance is simply awesome. He looks refreshed and stylish too. The dialogue
delivery, the humor and the impeccable sense of timing came alive in his
portrayal of the character ‘Reuteurs Venu.’ I liked the on screen chemistry with ‘Renuka,’ which sent the audience wild with clapping and cat calls.
It was also good to see that Amala Paul has emerged from
the cocoon and stood her ground in the presence of Mohan Lal, something that few
actresses can accomplish naturally – examples would include Urvashy, Shobhana,
Manju Warrier, Meera Jasmine among a few. However, the story could have fleshed out a meatier role for her and go beyond the obvious of portraying her as a sexy siren.
I also liked Mohanlal’s song Aaattumanal. He exercised tremendous voice control for
this song. Besides voice control, the rhythm, the tune and the overall picturisation were good.
But what took me by real surprise is Biju Menon. For a change, he is looking more stylish, fitter and he is acting better. The role that he has in this film - he has fully absorbed it and portrayed it. He plays the
role of the head of a newly born channel that is resorting to ‘low’ tactics to
pay off the salaries of its team and is going through a severe financial
crunch. He matched Lal's sense of timing in dialogue delivery with absolute perfection. The scenes and dialogues between Lal and Biju are a delight to watch.
Run Baby Run has several glitches particularly in its story line, particularly the second half of the movie. Towards the end, it becomes unnecessarily 'filmy' and predictable. I'd still say that overall this is a well made movie that has packed in many interesting ingredients that make it an entertaining, pacy movie to watch. So, go ahead and watch it in the theaters.
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