Lalbagh

Story: Sara’s husband Tom gets food-poisoned after a birthday party, and police suspect it was a deliberate attempt to murder him. And they are after the culprit.

Review: A man is dead and he is presumed killed, and in the process of chasing the murderer, his marriage undergoes autopsy.

In director Prashanth Murali Padmanabhan’s Mamtha Mohandas-starrer Lalbagh, Sara (Mamtha) and Tom’s (Sijoy Varghese) marriage is central to the story that tries to find the answer to a murder mystery. They are a regular couple, but the investigation peels one layer after the other into their connection and personalities. At least that’s what we think.

The movie has some palpable human conflict, plot twists and turns that can keep the audience interested just enough. There is a decent story build-up presented through beautiful frames of Bengaluru city. It also has a curious blend of family drama and police investigation, that raises engaging questions on who can be trusted, who is bluffing, and the like.

However, in the crucial first half of the film during which the police investigation unfolds, a good portion of the key explanations and doctor – police exchanges regarding the case are in Kannada! Yes, the story is set in Bengaluru, but in those sequences, which run without any subtitle, it looks like the makers forgot that this is a Malayalam film, after all. Viewers have to wait for hints falling out of occasional English dialogues or familiar words, to piece together some sense out of the proceedings. When those incomprehensible dialogues team up with mediocre acting of quite a few cast members, the movie often gets reduced to an average affair that can be tiresome to watch. Regardless, Lalbagh might offer an engaging story experience to those who understand both Malayalam and Kannada well.