Rifle Club: Class, but lacking

Musings

Nestled within the forested tops of the Western Ghats, a Rifle Club lays await - to celebrate life and the thrill of a hunt, dispersed with a flair to lay waste.

Rifle Club surely marks Aashiq Abu's small win from the setback of Neelavelicham and the man can make a living out of cinematography, if he can't lay hands on a good script during the offseason.

However, a visual treat can't make up for a lacking screenplay or fitting dialogues to create an aura around a movie. 

Co-written by Syam Pushkaran, Sharfu (of the Suhas-Sharfu duo), Dileesh Karunakaran and Aashiq (the first two whose body of work speak for themselves), this screenplay may not be up there as a best piece of work, because of a lack of impactful dialogues, unnecessary elevation of Anurag Kasyhap's villain character and a overall sense of pretentiousness hanging about in the air. 

The Rifle Club: Bones to pick on

• Double Meaning dialogues

The requirement of double meaning dialogues to boost narrative was at times, uncomfortable to watch. One or two instances here and there would be enough to provide a context/layer or to establish a subtle sense of dark humor- but there is'nt a need to inject it at crucial junctures of the film. An instance being the climax faceoff between the club and Kashyap's gang and in the scene where rising star Shajahan tries to make home at the dinner table to bond amongst the club's members.

• Story (?)

Which people in their right mind would go to lay siege on a group of individuals after facing a situation of rightful tit-for-tat?

Leave your brains at home, people say - but isn't a police system or something in place to handle matters in Kerala? (or is this some parallel universe?)

Guns and use of firearms were regulated back in 1991 and even now. They might even have appropriate licensing for the same. They run the club as a recreation time pass of sorts - however why would they fear the police, in the case of an imminent inspection?

• Not to the point. Why? 

Plotholes galore

- What happened to the runaway pair and Shajahan, after the shootout? 

They were kind of non-existant in the climax (the pair) and were the fulcrum for setting the story in place. Did the Rifle Club really help them to achieve their aspirations?

- What happened to the firearm inventory that was supposedly  the real deal?

They resort to throwing country bombs and fail, killing an elderly family member in the process. Cue a revert to the rifles for the assault.

• Climax - Straight to the point, but lacking

Things looked done and dusted after what happened to Dayanand and looked like a fitting end to the movie, however the feeling that it should have been something more did linger around me after the watch. Both Hanumankind and Anurag's character portrayal did leave me with a lot of thoughts to clutch on, riding on the thoughts of "what might have been", if it was played by someone else.

The motorbike-cum-gun wielding troupe looked unconvincing, along with Kashyap's antics in the climax to finish the movie. What was that? 

Both Dayanand and Avaran know English and Malayalam. Why is the former bickering around in Hindi during the climax, if the latter cannot understand? 

All of these causing the second half of the movie being a letdown.

Rifle Club: Highlights

• Dileesh Pothan - Pothettan (as we Redditors love to address him)

Pothettan always leaves a feeling of being unhinged in every character essaying. This one is no different and really looked like a role on a silver tray for him. His mannerisms - aided with a menacing smile, at edge with every dialogue and his frame were perfect. The bickering nickname of Shikari Shambu really suits him and the erupt of laughter from the theater was really warming.

• Art Direction and Setting - The scenes shot at the club and the manor house looked like the real deal. Integral to setting the background of the goings-on, this was nailed to the dot by Ajayan Challisery. 

• Cinematography - As mentioned previously, Aashiq can make a living out of cinematography if he can't lay hands on a good script during an offseason. The frames were ideal and looked oozy-like, complementing the story. The frames capturing the club were awesome and set the tone for an electrifying start.

• Art Direction- Redditors including me were clamoring around for the return of Rex Vijayan, and man did he deliver!. The scores injected, complemented the scenes well and the film's soundtrack has a new listener.

• Camaraderie - With a storied history and legacy to boast of, the club and it's members (each with a unique flip to their own) looked home in their character essaying. It was a joy to witness the return of Vani Viswanath (swashbuckling as always), Vijayaraghavan (keep 'em roles coming), Suresh Krishna (convinced me here totally - as a part time marksman and doctor!) and Vineeth (Devadoothan comes flashing back, but bloke has a great screen presence).

Trivia

Godjo was slated to be played by Soubin Shahir in the initial casting crew, however Vishnu Agasthya has since replaced him. It was referenced in this Reddit post.

Conclusion

Rifle Club is one of it's kind and is definitely a piece of work that we can boast about, being a torchbearer for more movies of this kind to be churned out in the future. This was a good attempt despit it's flaws nonetheless, and I wish the best for the Christmas clash of 2024. Marco and ED aim to keep pace with Rifle Club in this season's mix and ultimately, the audience are the real winners.