Even though movies sticking to Horror genre are pretty routine in Hollywood and World Cinema,I have always sensed the deficit of quality horror stuff from Indian movie scene particularly down south,which has always sticked onto old-school black magic based template horror films or horror comedies in general.Ashwin Saravanan's Nayanthara starrer 'Maya' (2015) was a revelation as far as Kollywood industry was concerned and overlooked the stereotypical horror clichés found in Tamil movies till then.The humongous response that the movie received was an eye-opener for film-makers down south to experiment with the genre and produce engrossing movies in par with films from the west.
To start with,I strongly believe Ezra is the much needed break for horror genre in mollywood,a first time experience for the normal malayali audience that deserves special mention for its visual splendor and grand scale of presentation that will make one go awe reflecting the budget constraints pertinent to a normal Malayalam feature film.
Debutant Jay K's genuine effort to make Ezra a memorable film is evident in each frame of the narrative,the result being nevertheless a laudable attempt from mollywood ,a class apart from the typical horror movie stuff that we are used to.A promising talent to lookout for in future,Jay K could succeed in taking advantage of good technical support and neat performances to present a hearty horror thriller that has enough substance to scare you without compromising on the depth of the storyline.
The pattern of narration is similar to horror thrillers form the west and presents different stages of demonic possession,namely 'Infestation','Oppression' and 'Possession' convincingly without any notable glitches in the screenplay as such.The concept of 'Dybbuk Box' from Jewish mythology was well incorporated by Jay K and refreshing for the fact that movies surrounding Jewish background aren't common in the Indian sub-continent in particular.
The flashback sequences were pretty impressive and convincingly presented.Jumpscares were minimal in the second half but made up by the well-presented backstory and emotional connect of the storyline.A complaint that one can make is that the exorcism portion could have been presented in a more thrilling and detailed manner.
Sujith Vasudev's top-notch frames and excellent work by the art direction team deserves applause for giving an avant-garde experience that's totally new to Mollywood.Cuts by national award winning editor Vivek Harshan were pretty good .
Backgorund score by Sushin Shyam was top-notch and hiked the thrills and emotional quotient of the narration.The pick among the songs were 'Thambiran' and 'Lailakame'(composed by RahulRaj) of which the former was utilized as a haunting BGM through the second half.
Performancewise,Prithviraj was as always pretty impressive with his controlled act as demanded by the storyline.Priya Anand had a meaty role to play which she did with required intensity and perfection.'Maheshinte Pratikaram' fame Sujith Shankar played his part really well.Sudev Nair's performance was fine.Tovino Thomas,Vijayaraghavan,etc gave neat supporting performances.
Overall,Ezra is a neat attempt from debutante Jay.K and team that deserves a watch from the big screens.
