Grrr Movie Review: Kunchacko Boban and Suraj Venjaramoodu’s Comedy Isn’t Wild Enough To Capitalise on Its Quirky Premise (LatestLY Exclusive)

Grrr Movie Review: We have heard reports and seen videos of people accidentally falling into the enclosures of dangerous zoo animals, finding themselves in precarious, sometimes fatal situations. Jay K's Grrr is inspired by such reports. In the film, an alcoholic ends up in a lion's enclosure in Thiruvananthapuram's famous zoo. In rescuing him, a zoo employee also finds himself at the lion's mercy, while the entire city waits with bated breath to find out their fates. Grrr Teaser: Kunchacko Boban Ready To Fight a Lion in Jay K’s Comedy Adventure.

It is an interesting idea for sure, and if executed properly, Grrr could have been a gamechanger for Malayalam cinema. But converting a good idea into a two-hour film and crafting a screenplay that justifies the runtime is a challenging task indeed. Unfortunately for us, Grrr doesn't roar enough to rise to that challenge. It turns into an okayish survival comedy with a few amusing moments but largely feels like a lost cause.

Grrr Movie Review - The Plot

Rejimon (Kunchacko Boban) is in love with Rachana (Anagha), an upper-caste girl who is also the daughter of a politician (Shobi Thilakan). Since her father would object to the relationship, the couple decides to elope. However, on the day of their register marriage, Rachana doesn't turn up. Thinking she ditched him, Rejimon gets drunk with his friend Anas (Rajesh Madhavan) and later finds himself at the zoo. In a moment of drunken foolhardiness, he enters the lion's enclosure and begins to taunt and challenge the animal.

Watch the Trailer of Grrr:

Haridas (Suraj Venjaramoodu) works at the same zoo as a supervisor. He is going through a marital crisis with his wife, Mridula (Shruti Ramachandran). In an effort to rescue Rejimon, who refuses to be saved in his drunken state, Haridas also ends up being trapped in the same enclosure. How they manage to save themselves from being Darshan the lion's 'starter' and 'main course' forms the rest of the film.

Grrr Movie Review - The Lion's The King

The first act of the film establishes the backstory of how Rejimon ends up in the enclosure: Reji and Rachana's love story, with the usual rich girl-poor boy elements with a caste angle slapped on. It isn't the most convincing backstory, but we've seen people do the stupidest things for the flimsiest reasons, so let me give Mr Rejimon a break here. At least that would get him and the film to Grrr's most interesting portion. To be fair, Rejimon's initial antics in the enclosure are fairly entertaining, particularly when Haridas gets involved.

However, after much prancing around by the duo, it soon dawned on me that Grrr doesn't really hold much substance to keep things alive and interesting. Within the constraints of the film's budget, it should have been forgivable how the lion is CGI-ed into these scenes, but that also takes away the tension when you can feel the lion is in some other plane than the trapped characters. Still, it is within the enclosure where Grrr feels most interesting, because the action outside is lukewarm at best. The only fun bit comes when an unexpected twist links both Rejimon and Haridas' personal stories.

Grrr Movie Review - The Weak Screenplay

Most of the supporting players, from Alencier's hired hunter to Ramesh Pisharody's TRP-chasing reporter, don't raise laughs despite the intentions. The fact that Grrr can't produce a narrative that maintains anything fascinating beyond Darshan is evident in the final act, set outside the enclosure. The lazy manner in which the protagonists' tracks are wrapped up will only make you shake your head in disbelief. Chaaver Movie Review: Kunchacko Boban-Tinu Pappachan's Film Offers Scattered Moments of Visual Brilliance in an Incohesive Political Narrative.

As for the performances, both Boban and Venjaramoodu are good enough to carry the weak screenplay and act scared around an animal that doesn't exist in their frame. Among the supporting cast, the only actor who shines is Shruti Ramachandran, who I wish had a bigger role in the film purely because she was so good in her part.

Grrr Movie Review - Final Thoughts

Grrr ends up as a missed opportunity, wanting more substance and cohesion in a screenplay that couldn't turn an interesting premise into a well-knit comedy. The performances by the leads are fine, but the movie ends up being an okay one-time watch with a couple of amusing moments here and there.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jun 20, 2024 08:00 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).