Azaadi in Malayalam, directed by debutant Jo George, attempts to create a paradigm of suspense within the confines of a hospital where a pregnant prisoner, Ganga (Raveena Ravi), is confined for her childbirth.
The film is about how her husband gets her out into freedom (azaadi, get it?). However, there are way too many twists and turns, none of them too convincing or even plausible, to give the narrative the flashy fillip it aspires to.
Much of this pyramid of mounting tension seems unnecessarily twisty. The only thing that appealed to me was the husband Raghu (Sreenath Bhasi)’s mulish determination to get his wife out of the hospital and her prison term.
The character is not shown as a superman ploughing his way through a formidable gauntlet of goons and cops. Raghu gets routinely thrashed to the ground. But he gets up and just keeps coming back to get his wife. There is a job to be done at any cost. The obstacles are to be treated as disposable and deletable.
The action looks convincing. The characters are strong but vulnerable. Lal is especially powerful as the incarcerated girl’s father. Like her husband Raghu, the father Kaappa goes to audacious lengths to get her out of her confinement.
Regrettably, though the film is all about azaadi, there is nothing liberating about the screenplay, which favours an aggressive standpoint even if it means sacrificing all subtlety. The twist at the end ruins all the impact of the rescue operation that we were being fed to applaud.
Azaadi is a weak attempt at portraying strong characters determined to do justice to a woman scorned. Sadly, the film fails to give the mute Ganga the voice that she deserves.
Also Read: Rajkummar Rao and Patralekhaa Expecting Their First Child, Share Heartwarming Announcement
