Neru Movie Review: Mohanlal is Back With a Blast in Jeethu Joseph's Overdrawn Courtroom Drama (LatestLY Exclusive)

Neru Movie Review: Good news first! Mohanlal has finally decided to retire his recent embarrassing on-screen theatrics and carve out his path for a comeback. In Neru, he is restrained and effective, and that works well for his character, a lawyer attempting to regain his footing in the spotlight after being out of it for a long time. Neru may not be the best film Jeethu Joseph has made for Mohanlal, nor is it as robust and impactful as some recent courtroom dramas. However, Mohanlal's restrained performance and the ever-pervasive theme of sexual assault work in favour of Neru. Neru To Release on December 21! Kerala HC Refuses To Stay Release of Mohanlal’s Film Over Script Plagiarism Allegations.

A blind sculpture artist, Sara (Anaswara Ranjan), is sexually assaulted at her own home while her parents and maid are out. She manages to make a mould of her rapist's face, through which the police nab the culprit. He turns out to be the son of a business tycoon who hires prominent lawyer Rajashekar (Siddique) to defend the accused. When the appointed public prosecutor proves useless, the investigating officer (KB Ganesh Kumar) advises the girl's stepfather (Jagadeesh) to find another competent lawyer.

Their search ends with Vijayamohan (Mohanlal), a brilliant lawyer who helps others with their cases but avoids going to court himself. Conveniently to the plot, the reason for his avoidance is linked to Rajashekhar and his daughter (Priyamani). Reluctant at first, Vijayamohan takes pity on Sara and agrees to be a special Public Prosecutor. The rest of Neru revolves around whether he manages to get justice for her.

Watch the Trailer of Neru:

Neru is scripted by Jeethu Joseph and Santhi Mayadevi, the latter also playing Vijayamohan's aide in the film (she was also Georgekutty's lawyer in Drishyam 2, and I read she is also a real-life lawyer). Neru is the classic legal underdog drama where the protagonist fights against all stacked odds to get his point across. It is a very predictable tale, where the journey to the finishing point decides its quality as a courtroom drama. Neru, however, is more of a mixed bag in that aspect.

The courtroom sequences do have their strong spikes that rouse the viewers, like the scene where Vijayamohan schools Rajashekhar over the latter's arguments on how a rape victim should have behaved, eliciting thunderous applause in my theatre. However, as a legal drama, Neru lacks the ingenuity of Nna Thaan Case Kodu or the razor-sharpness of Jana Gana Mana. At one point, it veers very closely to Oru Abhibhashakante Case Diary when Vijayamohan has to deal with a piece of tainted evidence.

At times, the movie resorts to manipulated or exaggerated twists to inject drama into the proceedings, which might have worked in legal-based films in the '90s and earlier but doesn't feel plausible now. I am no legal expert, but I don't think a public prosecutor would submit a video evidence to a judge without bothering to check its contents. Similarly, in the climax, Vijayamohan does something that works in his favour, which involves Sara, but I wondered why that 'something' wasn't thought of earlier when Rajashekhar was undermining the claims. Was Vijayamohan waiting for the last act to drop so that he could get the maximum dramatic effect? Could have saved some of our minutes there. 'Cos, even with all the courtroom shenanigans, Neru tests your patience with its lumbering runtime. Iratta Movie Review: Joju George's Brilliant Double Act Elevates this Gripping Investigative Drama with a Haunting Finale.

That said, I liked how the last act made Sara integral to the proceedings and used her to deliver the final blow. The sequence was certainly a bit over-dramatic, especially how Rajashekhar was acting all creepy to manipulate her, but it works. Anaswara Rajan is surely going to win more admirers with her performance here, and that's saying something in a film where Mohanlal has finally found his form back, and I hope that continues with his upcoming movies. If Mohanlal is great in a film, I don't even mind the now meme-worthy Anthony 'Stan Lee' Perumbavoor cameos that are expected surprises in these movies that no one asked for. Siddique is pretty good as the despicable high-profile who can sink to any level to win a case. Priyamani also is quite striking in the courtroom scenes, but her character's history with Vijaymohan isn't explored much during their interactions later on, and now I wonder why that was even needed to be mentioned. Sankar Induchoodan manages to leave an impact as the detestable assailant.

PS: Neru's most genuine moment is Rahul Easwar coming on news channel and espousing on men's rights. Wonder how the makers pulled that off!

Final Thoughts

Neru does has a couple of great sequences, and strong showing from its cast, particularly a return-to-form Mohanlal and a standout Anaswara Rajan. However, when it comes to standing out in its genre, Neru feels bloated, occasional exaggerated and pretty manipulative to make for a striking courtroom drama. Definitely not among Jeethu Joseph's strongest works.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Dec 22, 2023 12:05 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).