Team FC
An overtly loud political statement saved by an in-form Nivin Pauly. The honesty of the political representation and the film’s genuine intentions remain intact but the overstuffed storytelling suffers.
It is the story of a youngster with right-wing tendencies being introduced to the world of tolerance and faux optimism, and being forcefully made to reckon with the possibility for different truths to co-exist.
It deals with thematic ideas and general pointers that hold particular significance in today’s highly insular political climate, where religion divides, more than unites. It undercuts the timely messaging with a convoluted screenplay that shrills in its attempt to make itself heard.
The film makes passing references to the way the ‘unofficial IT cells’ of the right-wing parties work through the character of ‘Malghosh’, where online hate and misinformation are spread through fake profiles.
Nivin Pauly is highly effective in the comedic portions and the actor effortlessly plays the loafer, stumbling upon life's real purpose with his iconic charm, and we can see a residue of his more popular screen avatars where he excelled in mining the comedic beats to its full potential.
The execution feels far-fetched and overdrawn and this affects any sense of engagement with the film’s flawed yet fascinatingly interwoven political vision.