Orange Mittai (Orange Candy) - Gustatorially bland, yet strives hard to strike a chord!

I was initially thrilled to watch an actor like Vijay Sethupathy play an aged man in addition to penning his own story and screenplay for a movie along with an internationally acclaimed filmmaker, Biju Vishwanath, whose name is found in almost all the departments in this movie - including direction! It was announced as a movie that essentially takes place inside an ambulance within a span of 24 hours. This in essence provides a great scope for a heart warming and rib tickling screenplay. But what turned out was some half-hearted effort with some half baked gags that failed to make one erupt out of laughter but managed to bring out some wry smiles.

The story was as promised - a journey that involves 3 characters - Vijay Sethupathy as an aged man who has a weak heart, as he wryly claims that he has had a history of having heart attacks 27 times in the past, Ramesh Tilak, who serves as the emergency medical technician (EMT) in the ambulance and Aarubala, who is the driver of the ambulance. It’s by and large a road movie where the characters spend most of their time silently trying to settle their personal conflicts on top of putting up with each other and balancing the equations.

The thought process behind bringing in 3 different (and interesting) characters into the equation is laudable, but at the same time there were just moments where one could heartily laugh and had to put up with many a dull stretches where we do not know which direction the movie is heading. Also there were a few characters and scenarios that were thrust in order to garner sympathy and laughter, but they hardly succeeded. Also, the very thought of Vijay-Sethupathi's character swallowing some orange candies at times was the only connection with the movie's title. But on second thoughts it just occurs to me that the director wishes to inform that life has both sweet and sour moments like how it is with the orange candy.

Vijay-Sethupathi was in his elements and carried his role with steep gentleness and immense maturity by underplaying it. But his role was a bit confusing - is he good or bad. In fact a character puts across this question and we get a sarcastic reply for that. But Ramesh Tilak’s role had more scope to perform and he enjoyed a greater chunk of the screen space. He had to battle between his elusive love life, the staunch demands of his job profile and Vijay-Sethupathi. His helplessness could be felt and the moment he breaks open and expresses the same was something substantial. We have known him as a good supporting actor so far, but with this he has infused confidence that he can handle a major role with conviction.

How I wish this movie could have been a far more engaging fair with some little attention in terms of an engaging screenplay, some thought provoking dialogues and convincing sentiments without logical loopholes. Sadly the movie misses out on these counts and takes quite a steep fall. Let’s wish the entire team better luck next time.

Verdict: Dragging (thought it was just a little over 90 minutes)

Rating: 1.75 / 5