72 Model

Story: The film moves around the life of a youth named Sajan (Govind Padmasurya) who stumbles upon a fortune in his old-model ambassador car and the stage is set for some unpredictable incidents in his life.

Movie Review: When an inanimate object is made the focal point of a film, it naturally demands a lot of screen presence. In 72 Model, Rajasenan plants his characters and their blossoming ambitions around an old-model Ambassador car. However, the car gets very less screen space in this film. For most part, it is static, lying idle like an abandoned exhibit and is occasionally featured on screen as if by accident.

The story does spring from the car as a youth sees a set of thugs stashing a humongous sum in his car. The youth and his friends shoot off to prosperity which is followed by romance and Rajasenan - driven by an irresistible nostalgia - even squeezes in his characteristic family duels marked by low-brow comic moments.

Padmasurya plays his part and he ensures that he doesn’t go overboard while playing a good-hearted taxi-driver pushed into an unforeseen surge of fortune. The film, despite having a storyline that promises a neat mix of thrill and humour, never settles down.

The narrative strays as characters indulge in romance, guilt, ambitions and some misplaced moments of slap-stick comedy. 72 Model does not signal the return of Rajasenan. He dishes out a few moments but they lack the bold, emphatic strokes with which he once wooed viewers.