Rebel Movie Review

During this season which is a very political one, GV Prakash’s Rebel is a film that carries a communism-political angle to it. The film directed by debutant Nikesh tells us the story of two youngsters who leave their land in Munnar and turn up in Palakkad for their college studies.

The first half of the film is nicely woven together where director Nikesh creates a storyline that brings about its characters to tough situations and brings more reasoning to the title of the film. The film is very well done until then as it has some heartbreaking moments in it and also clicks well with scenes that will create an impact with the audiences. However, the second half is something that is very serious and dry, and the film gets into the political scenario completely with the elections, rivalry and other things moving on. With the film getting action and dialogue heavy, it loses the steam that it had in the first half and turns out to be a film that will interest those who are purely politically inclined.

GV Prakash has done well as the youngster who gets caught between Malayalam students and he has scope to perform here with both emotional and fun backgrounds in the story. His ‘Senthazham Poove’ moment and the interval block will be enjoyed by audiences.

Mamitha Baiju has a decent debut and her role is not as enjoyable as her Malayalam films. However, the supporting cast of the film are weak and do not add any value to it.

GV Prakash has worked on the songs of the film, while Siddhu Kumar has composed a special track and Ofro has worked on the BGM. The music is a positive aspect of Rebel on the whole, along with the camerawork by Arun Radhakrishnan who has done a terrific job in giving the film a modern day look and feel.

However, Rebel could have done with better writing and execution from director Nikesh, as his script feels like it could have done with more drafts and inclusions of interesting elements in the second half. The angle between Tamil and Malayalam students is not fleshed out fully either. The film ultimately works out as a good watch for those interested in communal politics, as it carries forward lot of viewpoints on the same.

Verdict: A technically strong political drama.