Sajin Shrijith By Express News Service For a film about football and football fans, the game is only played once in Argentina Fans Kaattoorkadavu (AFK). What you get instead, is a film about football fans who watch other people play football on television. It’s the equivalent of watching those trailer reaction videos on YouTube. WATCH TRAILER: I’m not sure I would watch a film about a bunch of people passing commentary on trailers. The only difference between AFK and those videos is that the former is nicely shot. Set in a football-crazed village where even the scarecrows are dressed in jerseys (with the players’ faces pasted on to their heads), AFK is a pale imitation of some of the yesteryear Sathyan Anthikkad films. There is not much in the way of conflict: it’s a story better suited for a short film. It’s not life problems that bother the characters, but small stuff like coming up the money to put a fancy flex or putting up a bigger cardboard cut-out of their football icons. The race is to plant the seeds of envy in their rivals, but this fails to create any excitement in the viewer. The situations, told through a haphazard narrative aided by a bland voiceover, don’t make for interesting cinema. Apparently, this is also a coming-of-age drama, but the only aim of Vipinan (Kalidas Jayaram) seems to be getting married to the girl whom he unexpectedly falls in love with one day. That girl is Mehr (Aishwarya Lekshmi), whose character description can be summarised in one line: A cute, feisty girl capable of holding her own and intimidating any cocksure man she encounters. Though Aishwarya is good as usual, Mehr is a one-dimensional character straight out of a syrupy Bollywood romance — it’s a big step down from Aishwarya’s recent roles. The writing is such that Mehr is required to be a lot of things at once, in an attempt to make her seem like an all-rounder. In her high school days, she is cheering for a football team and once she gets to college, she becomes active in campus politics. Vipinan is a textbook example of a chocolate hero, but oddly enough, it’s the best out of all the characters Kalidas has played so far. One can tell what Vipinan is thinking just by looking at his face. It’s not what you would call an extraordinary performance, but it is a convincing one nevertheless. However, given the zero chemistry between the two leads, it’s hard to take either of them seriously. Oh, and it has nothing to do with the fact that she looks older than him (this was a topic of discussion on social media recently). When things don’t go as planned, Vipinan comes up with a way to handle the depression: he creates a fantasy which would enable him to have conversations with the slain Colombian footballer Andrés Escobar. Though not always fun, their interactions reminded me of the Mukesh-Jayaram film Ayushkaalam. In fact, the film begins with a tribute to Andrés. AFK is one of those films where the supporting actors outshine the lead players. Standing out, in particular, are Aneesh Gopal (Saffer from last year’s Theevandi), Arjun Ratan, and Anu K Aniyan. Their humorous antics and one-liners resuscitate the film whenever things get dull. In the end, it’s these guys that make the film watchable. Being a football fan is not a prerequisite for watching this film, but when it feels like it was made to pander to football fans (and Aishwarya fans), you might want to reconsider what you are planning to watch this weekend.<doc-sep>Story: Vipinan and friends are die-hard fans of Argentinian football team in Kaattoorkadavu. Argentina Fans Kaattoorkadavu is the coming of age story of their lives, love and loss in the span of four football seasons. Review: Since the success of the Aadu franchise, Midhun Manuel Thomas has made his mark among young movie buffs. And hence, making a film with a good number of youngsters, Kalidas Jayaram and Aishwarya Lekshmi, along with a bunch of newcomers in the cast could have scored well for him. Especially since the film had a story with football as a backdrop it couldn't have been more perfect if the film also had a good story so to speak of. Kaattoorkadavu in Irinjalakuda is village with a bunch of football enthusiasts. Vipinan and his friends are true-blue Argentina fans and are constantly in clash with the Brazil fans and then later the Germany fans. This is the story of the fans' lives, love loses and triumphs in the span of four football World Cup seasons. For a football movie, it has very little football talk, making it viewable to those who aren't football enthusiasts. Kalidas Jayaram, who plays Vipinan, the lead shines like a penny in every single shot. Not a wrinkle on his shirt, nor a speck of dirt, he looks too rich to play a poor lad who is the sole breadwinner of his family. But as the lead he owns up to his charm and charms the hell out! Aishwarya Lekshmi comes out the true winner here. Her character is tirelessly one dimensional and a cliched heroine who is cute, hot-headed and sharp tongued. But with her panache and prowess Aishwarya Lekshmi turns the bland character into something that you'll enjoy watching. Her Mehrunissa Khadarkutty has spunk! Aneesh Gopalan, playing the hero's sidekick Suni is easily one of the most likable characters of the movie. As Suni, Aneesh is funny and in control of his character. Social media star Anu K Aniyan, aka Thera Para George has arrived! If he hadn't proved himself as an actor yet, this will do it. Gopi Sundar's music aides the movie to a large extent. Even when the movie fails to emote, the music kicks in. Argentina Fans Kaattoorkadavu misses at the story. It hops around trying to be a football movie and a rom-com, missing the essence of either by a large margin. At the end it doesn't give you the adrenaline rush a good football movie is supposed to give you. Neither does it give you the feel-good mushy warmth of a good romantic comedy. Argentina Fans Kaattoorkadavu is neither a pure football movie nor a pure romantic comedy. It missed out on both and got stuck in between. With flashes of goodness here and there, Argentina Fans Kaattoorkadavu makes for a one-time watch.<doc-sep>As Midhun Manuel Thomas directorial 'Argentina Fans Kaattoorkadavu' prepares for its release this Friday, the makers have released a tribute video for Argentina footballer Lionel Messi. With footage of Lionel Messi 's matches interspersed between movie scenes, it is an exhilarating video with Gopi Sundar's song perfectly syncing with the visuals. "Then, now and until last breath... Vamos Argentina!" says voice-over by Kalidas Jayaram The song is composed by Gopi Sundar and its lyrics is written by Midhun and Robin Varghese.Starring Kalidas Jayaram and Aishwarya Lekshmi, the story of 'Argentina Fans Kaattoorkadavu' is by Asokan Charuvil with script written by John Manthrickal and Midhun Manuel Thomas.<doc-sep>
Argentina Fans Kaattoorkadavu (AFK) is based on the three football world cups from 2010 to 2018 and will see Kalidas and Aishwarya Lekshmi in the lead roles. The makers of Argentina Fans Kaattoorkadavu (AFK) shared a tribute video for the football legend Lionel Messi. The video captures some golden and important moments of the footballer and surely, fans have relived some of the greatest achievements by Messi. The background score by Gopi Sunder with Kalidas Jayaram’s voice over, "Then, now and until last breath... Vamos Argentina!" will literally leave you stunned. The movie has hit the screens today, i.e. on March 22 and the song was released a few days before. The film is based on the three football world cups from 2010 to 2018 and will see Kalidas and Aishwarya Lekshmi in the lead roles. Argentina Fans Kaattoorkadavu has garnered a lot of attention among the moviegoers ever since the first look of the film was released. The film has hit the box office today and is expected to open with a positive response. Director Midhun Manuel Thomas had said earlier, “Not only Argentina fans, but all football fans can like. All real football fans appear in this film.” Argentina Fans Kaattoorkadavu' is a Malayalam movie directed by Midhun Manuel Thomas starring Kalidas Jayaram and Aishwarya Lekshmi in key roles. The original story is by Asokan Charuvil, script by John Manthrickal & Midhun Manuel Thomas, music has been given by Gopi Sundar and lyrics are penned by Harinarayanan BK. The film has been produced by Ashiq Usman under the banner Ashiq Usman Productions. Credits :YouTube Read More