Alone Movie Review

The most fascinating and challenging genre is psychological plays, which make sure to provide the spectator with just the proper amount of information regarding a certain psychological state. The authors are not allowed to go off-topic just for the sake of it or use artistic license to get applause. These films alter the audience's perception of those who experience certain psychological disorders, which has a profound effect. Therefore, filmmakers need to act morally before tackling this issue. It is important to convey your sensitivity. Kalidasan begins living alone in a flat in "Alone," a psychological suspense film directed by Shaji Kailas in Malayalam. Since the day he moved here, strange things have been occurring to him. Lead actor Mohanlal plays a crazy man who wonders whether there is any relation between these occurrences and this flat. In the movie, Kalidasan shows how he may tackle this problem in an effort to learn more.

Shaji Kailas and Rajesh Jayaraman collaborated on the mystery-thriller movie Alone, which was produced and released in 2023 by Antony Perumbavoor via Aashirvad Cinemas. In India in 2020, the COVID-19 epidemic is in full swing. Mohanlal is the sole actor to play a character in the movie; the others are voice actors playing supporting parts. 4Musics created background music and songs for the movie.

The movie was created as a short film that could be produced under COVID-19 pandemic limits to aid jobless Malayalam film industry employees during the epidemic in India. In the months of September and October 2021, principal photography lasted 18 days. A direct-to-OTT distribution of the movie was the initial plan. On January 26, 2023, Alone had its theatrical debut. It garnered mediocre reviews.

Cast

Mohanlal as Kalidas, the only character seen on-screen, as he gets stranded in an apartment building during the COVID-19 pandemic in India.

Voice Cast

• Prithviraj Sukumaran as Hari Bhai
• Manju Warrier as Yamuna
• Annie Shaji Kailas as Dr. Soosan
• Siddique as Karthavu (Association President)
• Nandhu is the apartment's, Chief Security
• Baiju Santhosh as ASI Rasheed
• Shankar Ramakrishnan as Vinod
• Renji Panicker as Colonel
• Mallika Sukumaran as Kalidas's Neighbour
• Suresh Krishna as Thomas Kuruvila, the caretaker of the apartment
• Rachana Narayanankutty as Sreedevi
• Zeenath as Sheela Varky
• Jose as Binoy

Plot

The nation had come to a stop due to the spreading virus that was sweeping the whole planet in the year 2020 when the COVID lockdown had just been declared. In order to prevent the spread of the illness, the Indian government has declared a state-wide lockdown during which everyone is instructed to remain indoors for a period of time. In the middle of all the mayhem that the lockdown has caused, Kalidasan travels to Cochin to move into a new flat. His sole means of communication with security when he enters the apartment building is via his phone while wearing a mask, gloves, and a sanitizing spray. Around him, there are scarcely any indications of human life, and there is quiet and emptiness that are palpable even before he arrives. Kalidasan comes out as a guy who is too careful and has hypochondriac tendencies. He is always holding a hand sanitizer to ensure that the virus does not get into touch with him. When you first meet him, you get the idea that he is always on the edge of his seat, scanning the area carefully to make sure everything is okay. He did display paranoid traits, which is understandable given that the covid's fury was only starting to intensify.

The voice of a mom talking to her daughter about studying and making sure she does well this time around may be heard by Kalidasan. The kid seemed to be a teenager, and the mother's worries about her academic performance sounded sincere. Although alarmed by the sounds he continues hearing, Kalidasan is unsure of why they are occurring to him or why he is the only one who is susceptible to them since they have no physical source. The guy is frightened by even the smallest noise that occurs within the house, which leads him to believe that the home may be haunted. He begins to wonder whether a paranormal force has seized control of the home to spook him. A motivational speaker named Kalidasan visits jails to speak to convicts and encourages them to improve themselves by learning about life and the chances it provides. With whom Kalidasan keeps in contact, Yamuna is the first person he tells of his presence in the city. She is his closest friend and confidante, with whom he can discuss any news, whether it be joyful or sad. As he begins talking about his time at the flat, Yamuna is glad to have him there as well.

Kalidasan has only been in the flat for a few hours when he cannot believe the sounds and voices he hears are growing more audible and wonders whether they are those of the people who previously resided there. He asks Yamuna to find him a new flat, but due to the Covid lockdown and limitations, she is unable to do so. Kalidasan is concerned that the voices he hears will ultimately make him insane. If he should invite someone over and if they will be able to hear the same sounds as him are questions he has. Dr. Soosan, his second confidante, is also told by Kalidasan about the sounds. Dr. Soosan engages in a good deal of amusing banter with Kalidasan while dismissing it as nothing for him to worry about. It has been some time since he moved into the new flat, but the voices and talk between the two persons are becoming more intense. When Kalidasan notices the half-eaten burger in the trash can and the fact that his glass of water is now empty, his anxiety approaches a breaking point. He quickly picks up the small girl's sound, which belongs to Anu, but he cannot make out the mother's voice when she speaks to her daughter. From the exchange, he deduces that a guy is stalking them. Despite Anu's insistence that she is avoiding the guy, he continues to pursue her. Kalidasan wonders whether something?a negative occurrence, more precisely?happened to the lady and the daughter.

Kalidasan discovers that Sridevi had been struggling financially and that her employer Binoy had helped her gradually pay off the debt; however, in exchange, he had begun tormenting her and her daughter. From the sticker put on Anu's notepad, he discovers the name Binoy. He creates the name by utilizing the initial letters of the stickers on the items that are put inside. The employer, who had made approaches towards her and her daughter but had been refused, made the decision to murder her before she could report him. One last time, Kalidasan employs Hari and asks him to do him a favor by unleashing his criminal side. He demands that Binoy be killed for sexually harassing two women and misrepresenting his death as a suicide and that Hari mutilate the physician who conducted a post-mortem on them. When the authorities apprehend Hari for the murder of Binoy, he names the person who hired him. Somehow Kalidasan was aware Hari would divulge his identity. He is entirely unconcerned about getting detained since he intends to leave the flat and travel without communicating with anybody so that no one can find him. The identity of Kalidasan, a schizophrenic patient, is quickly made clear. He pretended to be a motivational speaker in order to persuade three murderers to conduct a last murder in each of the three cities. It is simple for the authorities to establish that Kalidasan is the mastermind since his MO has been the same in all places. Dr. Soosan's patient Kalidasan acts out a typical episode of schizophrenia for the media.

Review

Filmmakers have used the epidemic and its aftermath as a standard plot device for writing and producing films. Some people have even given it a go and succeeded in producing quality narratives. Connect was the newest shoddy effort featuring Nayanthara. However, if you believe that ill-fated attempt and the bottom were close enough, allow me to demonstrate Mohanlal's unfortunate exploration of a deeper bottom with a film that hardly ever qualifies as anything other than a script that reads like a drunk person scribbled all of the hazy mixed ideas on a piece of paper he found at the bar.

As the name implies, "Alone" is a movie in which a single actor plays every single part. God, please intervene and rescue Mohanlal. The beginning of the film gives the impression that it is the most intelligent of all. Entering a fancy society is a guy wearing too many bright t-shirts and drinking too much. As soon as he reaches room 13A, the building's logic disintegrates, and he is shocked to find that it is ghosted. Now that a virus is spreading, it could make sense to keep Mohanlal in focus and cast every other character as a voice on the phone, a figure hiding behind a door, or a ghost in the emptiness. Because it puts so much effort into creating a dull and strange narrative, Alone never even attempts to add any substance.

Alone, whose screenplay was created by Rajesh Jayaraman, is the funniest mystery film you'll ever watch since it features a guy who jumps and walks like an animated figure while speaking like a cult leader and wearing beach t-shirts and who manipulates every system imaginable. He takes pleasure in hearing "good job" when someone breaks someone's bone. How absurd is this? Additionally, the ghost in the issue had no voice in the case as a whole, leading one to wonder to what degree they even existed. You can almost disregard the climax since the ending twist has been done to death. Where the consequences are for a guy with such a strong criminal inclination is the main concern, however. He speeds into a bright abyss in a vehicle that resembles a Batmobile, as if doing so were popular with his followers. People need help figuring out what kind of film this is.

This is the cap at this point since Mohanlal keeps giving us his worse performances one after another. There is no other way to explain the actor's actions. Thus, it is clear that he was compelled to perform this way. He doesn't seem realistic for even a brief moment since everything about this guy seems so contrived.

That Mohanlal and Shaji Kailas together gave us Narasimham is a concept that my mind finds hard to accept. What could possibly go wrong with a partnership that has been so successful?

Add to that a terrible shaky cinematography that tries to seem extremely edgy, as well as a background soundtrack that is just too loud. The taking of credit in this bowl has to stop immediately. As he keeps doing poorly in Alone, one can only assume that Mohanlal is busy finding the bottom of the barrel. There are many better choices than this; there are many better ones. It's optional. On the other hand, Alone turns out to be a boring film with little substance. Alone gets 2 out of 5 stars.

Reception

Mixed reviews were given to Alone. Alone, directed by Shaji Kailas and starring Mohanlal, received a 3 out of 5 rating from India Today's Janani K. She commented, "Alone is a one-actor picture that attempts to be a thriller with a twist. However, neither it provides thrills nor do the purported twists have an effect on you. But regrettably, this film doesn't even contain a glimmer of the good old vintage Mohanlal or Shaji Kailas, according to an IndianExpress.com reviewer who gave it a 1.5 out of 5 ratings. The Hindu writer S.R. Praveen said Mohanlal's solo performance was insufficient to save this dragged-out thriller. The Firstpost reviewer awarded Alone a score of 0, saying that it was "zero-impact, zero-purpose fare." More mysterious than the events that take place in the apartment where the narrative is set is the purpose of its existence.

Conclusion

Shaji Kalidas' film "Alone," which tries to depict persons with severe mental illnesses as having criminal inclinations, sets a horrible example for them and shouldn't be shown on a huge platform like a movie screen in the first place. Mental diseases must be properly shown on television and film to help viewers who are susceptible to being influenced learn how to handle them. In their inaccurate portrayal of schizophrenia and assertions that illness causes criminal behavior for the sake of cinematic freedom, the author Rajesh Jayaraman and the filmmaker don't leave anything to chance. The narrative also jumps around from scene to scene without a clear direction, which causes the spectator to eventually question what the protagonist character is even doing and what the objective of this constant search is. There was nothing novel about how the movie concluded; we could smell the climax coming from a mile away. The conventional suspect was not the murderer, as it proved. Shaji Kailas' directing was uneven, and it was easy to see when particular scenarios and images were replayed. Even Mohanlal's outstanding performance could not redeem the movie. The running length may have been cut by thirty minutes while maintaining the film's theme.