Gold review: This Alphonse Puthren thriller loses its track midway

Few filmmakers take extended breaks between films. The gaps between their movies are sometimes so long that if it weren’t for them, audiences would forget their names.

I am talking about directors like Thiagarajan Kumararaja and Alphonse Puthren. They are like Neelakurinji flowers.

Alphonse is back with Gold, seven years after the release of Premam.

Gold has been generating a great deal of anticipation since it was announced. Let me quickly give a glimpse into this Prithviraj and Nayanthara starrer.

An abandoned pickup truck carrying a shipment of mini speakers is found at the front entrance of the house of Joshi (Prithviraj). He cannot get his new car into the compound because the truck cannot be moved.

Joshi informs the cops, who instead get busy dealing with a similar problem. Joshi soon discovers that the truck has more than just speakers.

Rajesh’s music and Prithviraj save the day

There is no single genre that can adequately define Gold.

Written, edited, and directed by Alphonse Puthren, Gold — with its huge star cast — works as a thriller for most of the duration, but sometimes also as a comedy.

Gorgeous lighting, vibrant colours, and clever editing — not always, though — add to the film’s style.

Prithviraj Sukumaran as Joshi and music director Rajesh Murugesan save the day and the movie, too.

Prithviraj keeps the audience interested with his screen presence, and the film drags when he is off-screen.

Apart from Shammi Thilakan, Baburaj, Lalu Alex, and Chemban Vinod Jose, nobody leaves an impression.

Nayanthara, Ajmal Ameer, Mallika Sukumaran, Shanthi Krishna, and a dozen more actors appear in extended cameos.

None of them adds anything to the story or serves as comic relief. It’s just a matter of coming and going.

#GOLD In theatres worldwide from tomorrow! pic.twitter.com/oLunneVWyi

— Prithviraj Sukumaran (@PrithviOfficial) November 30, 2022

A well-set-up mystery that lacks freshness

We can see a few classy Alphonse Puthren touches like the crazy split-screen shots at the police station and the slow-motion-filled scene where Joshi keeps back the mini speaker he took before the police.

The buildup was good, with a few interesting characters, a quirky situation, witty dialogues, and a well-set-up mystery, but it loses its way after the interval.

Neram was fresh at the time of its release, but with a similar story, Gold does not have that freshness. We have seen all these many times.

We see Alphonse trying too hard with the editing and effects. In some areas, it works and in others, it doesn’t.

Pulsating, but falls flat at times

Another downside for me was the runtime. The flick sags a little in the second half — especially towards the end — but otherwise moved along at a steady rate.

Also, some parts don’t have any use, like the unconnected, unrelated dance sequence and Soubin Shahir’s scenes. They worked against the movie.

In the same way, the comical portion of Lalu Alex and Ajmal Ameer becomes unbearable after a couple of scenes. And the ending? Better left unsaid.

Like in Premam, we see a lot of shots of butterflies, ants, grasshoppers, and the sky in Gold.

But unlike Premam, where such shots worked in favour of the metaphor, they are more like inserts or fillers in Gold.

It felt like they were trying to be something and just couldn’t quite get there.

Gold is not boring, but it just lacks punch. It brought a smile to my face a few times, but still lacked memorable moments.

It was pulsating at times, but fell flat most of the time.

Is it worth watching? It is definitely a good one-time watchable comedy thriller. Rajesh Murugesan’s soundtrack helps the movie enormously.

https://t.co/llAUIGLVD7 😃 pic.twitter.com/sCHJxT7DQr

— Prithviraj Sukumaran (@PrithviOfficial) November 30, 2022