12th Man HD REleased

 A group of 11 friends go away to a resort for a weekend bachelor party, but the day ends in a death

In these days of wavering attention spans, how does Jeethu Joseph expect a 2 hour 43 minute film to hold interest? The director seems assured in his mastery, and yes, he builds a delicious, suspenseful story that keeps us gripped for the entire time, as he strips off the tales of deception that the characters have built around themselves.

Eleven friends go away to a resort for the bachelor party of the last man standing among them. The group comprises college friends, their spouses and also the bride-to-be. As they start their fun day with a game of cricket, they bump into the resort’s only other guest (Mohanlal), a drunken troublemaker whom they somehow manage to get rid of. At dinner, the friends decide to play a ‘game’ prompted by their exasperation that one guy is always moving away to speak on the phone. Now, everyone must openly answer calls and messages in front of the rest of the group.

The story by Sunir Kheterpal, scripted by KR Krishnakumar, is immediately gripping, because it is a situation that none of us want to be in, but would love to have a ‘fly of the wall’ view of. As expected, when the game ends in an hour, the mask of propriety that each one wears slips off and the friends almost come to blows. The tension waxes and wanes, till it ends in a death. The rest of the story, which takes place over the span of a night, is a whodunnit - in the class of a Hercule Poirot investigation - that gives us an insight into complex personalities, toxic relationships, betrayals and more.It unfolds almost like KG George’s Yavanika, though the characters are not quirky as in the 1982 classic and so, are more dark and less fun.

This is not a flawless film, but it is certainly entertaining from start to finish, particularly with its identifiable characters. 12th Man is very different from Drishyam 2; Jeethu Joseph uses a more subtle hand in this, and the twists are more moderate than in the earlier film, but that works very well here and in fact, keeps one more glued to the story, because it plays out in a more believable manner. The flamboyance comes in with the camerawork by Satheesh Kurup, editing by VS Vinayak and the effects, and it works nicely in capturing the tone of the investigation.

While this would seem like an out-and-out Mohanlal film, it actually isn’t. The other actors, from a star like Unni Mukundan to popular actors like Saiju Kurup, Aditi Ravi, Anu Sithara and Anusree to Leona Lishoy, Priyanka Nair, Sshivada, among others, have screen presence and have all played their roles perfectly. The music by Anil Johnson gels well with the mood; he has done well to keep the sounds gentle, rather than try any gimmickry to add to the mood of mystery. The songs in English feel a bit strange to the ear though.

12th Man is definitely worth a watch and is sure to appeal to more than the Malayali audience.