The world above ground is unstable, but what lies beneath is much more dangerous. Gundu is truly an unconventional experiment with an interesting plot line. The core theme is around what happens when one of deadliest substances ever produced, surfaces near the sea shore. The Pandora's box journey thus begins, when it lands on the hands of scrap dealers who is unaware of what they are dealing with. The movie tries to address many things centered around this plot line. It has this typical caste injustice (its part and parcel of any of the PA Ranjith films now), working class and power based discrimination theme painted all over. So its tough to call this as anti-war movie, its part thriller road journey like Kaithi. It has moments of comic relief (which reminded me of Kaithi driver and helper scenes) and above all it does try to create awareness about where we are headed to without much preaching.
Its a well researched movie with a strong political message. Towards the end the movies showcases what if scenarios of the aftermath in the belief that new generation perspective will change. There is a hope that humanity will stick and act together and find means to avert the fateful day. The solid casting and their performances is another big plus point. My only quarrel is that overall theme got diluted and did not stick well with me long enough. This could have have been done with much more elegance if there was a steady focus on one story line as opposed to three three parallel narratives. The scree play was sometimes like meandering through the maze kind. The folklore musical sore and therukoothu shoots are done beautifully. Its an impressive start and we have one more new director Athiyan Athirai to watch out for. The film may not stand out even though the concept is fresh, but its a great attempt which needs appreciation.
Verdict - 3/5(Matrangal Nadakkum)