AAHA MOVIE REVIEW CLICK TO RATE THE MOVIE

Aaha is a sports drama starring Indrajith Sukumaran, Manoj K. Jayan, Amith Chakalakkal, Santhy Balachandran, and Ashwin Kumar in pivotal roles. The movie marks editor Bibin Paul Samuel's directorial debut. Along with direction, Samuel has also edited this film.

The story revolves around a group of individuals who do odd jobs in the day and work hard towards building a Tug of War team. Based on the popular 80s and 90s Tug of War team Aha Neeloor, Aaha focuses on the backstory of almost every character. Film writer Toby Chirayath seemed to want to explore all characters, which results in a lag in the movie at certain parts of the film.

Aaha has an electric start featuring the Aaha Neeloor team and Manoj Kumar Nayak as their coach. The first few minutes give you the pace and atmosphere of a proper sports drama before new characters come in and the whole trajectory changes. What follows is a film that captured the spirit of the unique sport but lacked in keeping you entertained.

With some sleek editing from Samuel, Aaha could have been much better. By removing unnecessary flashbacks, plot lines, songs, and characters, the movie could have saved close to 15-20 minutes if not more. As it is, Aaha is a slow burn sports drama that stays a little too long with each character and yet doesn’t bring a proper resolution to any of them.

Most sports dramas focus on individual problems that contribute to the team's poor performance and find a solution for the same before the team or player comes back with a bang. In Aaha, this part is rushed and shown in montages. However, credit where credit is due, Aaha has a few 'aha!' moments scattered across its 148.7 minutes run when the actual game is the prime focus or when Pala's scenic beauty is covered. While the team bonding and building process is limited and quite lacking, the actors have showcased convincing performances during the game.

Sayanora Philip and Shyad Lambert's music adapts to each situation with water-like fluidity. While the background score is moderately good, and the songs are individually good. The problem arises when you put together all the songs in a 148-minute movie. There are simply too many songs in it; in just the first hour, the movie has around four songs.

Aaha, while promoted as a sports drama through its trailer, lacks to create a gripping tension of victory or failure save for certain parts of the film. What could have been a good story on a sport that gets least coverage in commercial films loses its potential due to a loose script and editing. There is simply too much going on for one movie and moviegoer's patience, as the story covers everything from classicism to xenophobia and yet explores none of them. Overall, the movie is worth a watch to simply explore the mechanics of the sport Vadamvalli.

AAHA VIDEO REVIEW