Salute Review: Slow paced cop drama with muddled narrative
Salute Movie Rating: 2 Stars
Just watched Salute movie on Sony LIV. So let’s focus on the cast, release date story, positive/negatives and at last my personal view on this movie.
Cast:Dulquer Salmaan, Manoj K Jayan, Diana Penty, Lakshmi Gopalaswami, Sania Iyyappan, Alansier, Binu Pappu, Vijayakumar and Saikumar
Director: Rosshan Andrrews
Release Date: 18th March 2022 on Sony LIV
Story: The first scene shows Aravind Karunakaran (Dulquer Salmaan) walking into a police station and asking about the details of a murder case that happened three years back. He is a police officer who is on a long leave and returned to unearth the layers surrounding a murder case.
3 years ago DSP Ajith Karunakaran (Manoj K Jayan) who is also the elder brother of Aravind. He is a guy interested in law becomes police inspired by his brother. He looks up to his brother and takes pride in working under him. Ajith handling a murder case and is under severe pressure from ruling party to solve the case within a short deadline and leads a team that’s after a faceless killer. The police nab the guy who they believe is responsible for the double murders but there is not enough evidence to prove it
Investigative team frames an innocent man named Murali (Vinod Sagar). Even though Aravind defies his elder brother to side with the truth but he is isolated by the department. Unable to handle the unethical system, Aravind takes a long leave and distances himself from his brother and family. However, things are not as honest as Aravind has imagined.
The movie then returns to the present when Aravind who is still unsettled by the guilt of sending an innocent man to jail. He comes with his live-in partner Dia (Diana Penty) to attend his cousin Malavika (Saniya Iyappan). There he tries to reopen the old case to free from the guilt. The false implication of an innocent guy under police pressure makes Aravind go against his brother. He quits the duty and promises to catch the real killer. The movie then follows Aravind’s lone effort to find the real culprit. Did he nab the killer? What are the obstacles he faces is the movie’s core story.
Positives
1. Excellent Performances
2. Story
3. Direction
4. Background Music
Negatives
1. Muddled Narrative
2. Screenplay
3. Length
4. Climax
Durgesh Tiwary’s View : When I watched the trailer of this film planned to watch this movie as it is available in Hindi dubbed and this is Diana Panty debut Malayalam film and I watched all her movies.
SI Aravind Karunakaran is in a long leave, is haunted by an old murder case him and his brother investigated and closed while he was in service by fabricating evidences. In a cinematic universe where facial composite’s are non-existent, the hero officer now gathers clues and new evidences, and only time will tell whether he is destined to crack the real story and the unsub behind the closed case.
Salute story is a typical police procedural investigative drama with a small twist. The film, which doesn’t quite rely on shocking twists, majorly works due to its focused storytelling, and in spite of being slow-paced, it still manages to keep one engaged till the end. The conflict and the tension between the brothers make up for another interesting angle that works in making the story quite engaging. What really works in the film’s favor is the narrative style. Unlike most cop thrillers, film isn’t in a hurry to make the hero catch the criminal. This isn’t one of those films where the twists blow you away. In fact, the film rarely relies on any major twists and rather spends its time on letting the hero be haunted by his own conscience and a faceless villain.
Every time we feel like the hero is very close to nabbing the killer, the story takes a detour and Aravind hits a roadblock. Here, we don’t get a hero who’s invincible but someone who is as vulnerable as anyone. The fact that the film never tries to glorify Dulquer’s cop character is a major highlight for the film. Overall movie is a fairly decent investigative drama with a strong conflict. The muddled and dialogue-heavy narrative is an issue but the mystery provides the intrigue. The ending leaves one divided depending on which side one falls. If you like thrillers despite slow pace give it a try. My view on this movie Time Pass
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