Thinkal Menon, TNN, May 17, 2018, 12.00 AM ISTCritic's Rating: 2.5Bhaskar Oru Rascal Synopsis: Two school-going kids hatch a plot to get their respective single parent married to each other.
Bhaskar Oru Rascal Review: Like its title, this remake of the Malayalam film, Bhaskar Oru Rascal, has changed only a few things from the original version. Arvind Swami and Amala Paul play the lead roles here, which were essayed by Mammootty and Nayanthara respectively, in Mollywood.
School friends Akash (Raghavan) and Shivani (Nainika) have a contrasting nature. While the former is calm and mature, the latter is aggressive and impatient. The only similarity they share is that both of them are brought up by single parents. Akash's father, Baskar (Arvind Swami), a businessman, is known for his reckless behaviour. He is always game for a physical fight if someone rubs him the wrong way. This nature of his brings embarrassment for Akash and his grandad (Nasser). On the other hand, Shivani's mother, Anu (Amala) is calculated and cool-headed, having taken care of her family following her husband Sanjay's (Aftab), demise.
Akash and Shivani decide to unite Baskar, a widower, and Anu, a widow. Will things happen as per the kids' plan? Can someone like Anu tolerate Baskar, for her daughter's sake?
The plot, like its original version, is interesting. The children come up with convincing performances. Arvind Swami and Amala, too, are perfect for their roles, though the former scores more than others with his histrionics. Soori, Robo Shankar and Ramesh Khanna, manage to entertain in the initial scenes, but become monotonous later.
The issue with the film is the same that its original version, too, had. While the first half offers some interesting moments, inspite of some loud performances from some artistes, a promising twist, unfortunately, makes way to a less-engaging second half. The songs hardly impress, while the background score is strictly OK. What could have been a lighthearted family drama with little fun moments, goes on to become a confused action film, with criminals and gang wars, later. Towards the end, at least convincing screenplay developments and a less-exaggerated fight sequence would have provided relief.