DOUBLE BARREL MOVIE REVIEW

**** No Spoliers in this review of Double Barrel ****

Prithviraj, Arya, Indrajith, Asif Ali, Swathi Reddy and Sunny Wayne make Double Barrel a big multi starrer indeed. But Lijo Jose Pellissery’s idea of a multi starrer is not to give any extra screen space or leverage to the stars but to treat them normally as just one of the dozen odd characters set in strange circumstances in an imaginary place which is passed off as Goa.

Kudos to stars like Prithviraj and Arya for buying Lijo Jose’s idea and restricting themselves to be just actors in Double Barrel without the extra baggages. Good to see Arya dub for himself as well. Prithviraj, Santhosh Sivan, Arya and Shaji Nadesan also should be credited for deciding to fund a movie on a comedy genre which is still relatively new to the Indian film circuit.

But let’s again repeat a golden rule of comedy movies. White, Black or Blue, comedy movies are meant to make people laugh or atleast smile. There is no problem trying to bring in crime comedy of Guy Ritchie’s style or quirky comedy of Wes Anderson’s style to India but what's important is that the comedy attempted shouldn’t bore the audience. And that’s exactly where Double Barrel slips.

The first half of the movie is a stretch. The second half manages to pull it back. Rachana Narayanankutty’s sequence where she has a no-holds-barred blast at half a dozen men traveling with her in a car is a highlight.

Camera by Abhinandan Ramanujam is creative and gets as crazy as the characters in the movie. Prashanth Pillai’s heavy mexican/spanish styled music sets up the movie’s mood perfectly. Camera, music, editing and the stunt choreography will have to be applauded for some of the over-the-top gun battle scenes, though they were far too many of those.

The movie is not for people who seek some plain old school type comedy. But for cinema goers who have the patience for  quirky comedy, Double Barrel might leave you satisfied.

Overall, heartening to see new attempts being made through movies like Double Barrel, wish it had some more comedy which actually works.