I was really excited to watch Govind Vishnu‘s debut directorial, Daveed, starring none other than Antony Varghese Pepe. And I must say, it was a tiny bit different from what I expected it to be.
The film follows an extremely clichéd underdog story that has been told a million times before by many other movies. Pepe‘s character, Aashiq Abu, is a regular bouncer who gets into trouble with an international boxer and has to settle the score somehow.
But the film chooses to focus on how this affects Abu‘s family and the people around him, making him face his past rather than going all out on the rivalry. I really enjoyed this new style of storytelling, as it helped me connect with the characters more.
While I really appreciate the physical effort Pepe put in for this film to transform himself, his performance was on a similar level to what we saw in RDX, which I wouldn’t say is his best. (By no means bad, in fact, really good. but just not his personal best.) However, overall, Pepe did justice to his character and had a strong screen presence.
For me, the show-stealer of Daveed was Mo-Ismail, who played the rival boxer, Sainul Akhmadov. Oh boy, I’d love to see that man working in more Indian films. Such an amazing performer, great physique, and really good screen presence! Even though he doesn’t have much screen time, I really enjoyed seeing him whenever he was on screen.
I started noticing Lijomol Jose from Ponman, and she continues her streak of being a great performer in Daveed too, as Sherin, Abu’s wife, a woman who is vulnerable at times but truly strong as a person. Even though this role is somewhat similar to what we saw in Ponman, Lijomol‘s range of expressions made Sherin feel different.
Another character I really liked was Abu‘s boxing guru, Aashan, played by veteran actor Vijayaraghavan. The man has been delivering solid performances for several decades, so it wasn’t really a surprise how good he was in this film either.
Like Aashan, there are many other actors in this film who play unnamed characters (as far as I remember), like Saiju Kurup’s character of Abu’s drunkard uncle, Vineeth Thattil David’s Thrissur-slanged police officer, and Aju Varghese as a businessman who sponsors Abu for the final face-off etc. All of them did really well in their roles.
Going into the technical side of the movie, I’d like to start with the writing, which I feel is both this movie’s strength and weakness at the same time. The script, written jointly by Govind Vishnu and Deepu Rajeevan, portrays both Abu and Sainul as morally gray, and neither of them is a hero or a villlain. both have their own valid reasons for the fight, not just ego. I really liked this approach and saw a lot of potential. However, it fails to delve deep into the emotions, making the narrative extremely basic. As a result, viewers don’t get the dopamine rush they expect and are left wanting more.
The cinematography, however, is brilliantly done by Salu K. John, capturing the landscape of Fort Kochi magnificently. I loved the use of zoom-in shots during character interactions, complemented by the well-thought-out cuts by Rakesh Cherumadam.
Justin Varghese is slowly becoming my favorite composer in Mollywood. Having seen his work in Chaaver, Ajagajantharam, Ponman, and more, he has not disappointed with Daveed either. His music elevated even the weakly written scenes, making the movie a cohesive experience.
Overall, I consider Daveed an above-average action flick that feels a bit different from what we’re used to seeing. It’s a good one-time watch if you’re in the mood for something like that. Curious about more hidden messages in upcoming films? Check out our latest deep dives into cinema and pop culture and keep decoding the art of storytelling with us! Read here.
Rating: 7.1/10
However, it fails to delve deep into the emotions, making the narrative extremely basic. As a result, viewers don’t get the dopamine rush they expect and are left wanting more.
