Mike review: Anaswara Rajan is the saving grace in an ill-conceived film

John Abraham’s debut production in Malayalam, Mike features the talented Anaswara Rajan in the title role with debutant Ranjith Sajeev as the male lead.

Mike is about a young girl named Sara who is experiencing gender dysphoria.

She feels uneasy being a woman and wants to transform into a man by undergoing gender reassignment surgery.

Adopting the name ‘Mike’, she leaves her house to undergo the surgery.

During her trip to a Karnataka-based hospital for a doctor consultation, she chances upon Antony (Sajeev).

Mike Releasing on 19th August 2022 in Cinemas. #Mike

Watch now : https://t.co/vRfGWqomM7@johnabrahament @thejohnabraham @vishnusivaprasad_ @ranjithsajeev @anaswara.rajan @rohinimolleti @renavive_renu @vivek_harshan @aashiqakvarali @heshamabdulwahab @mikemovieofficial pic.twitter.com/uNk4SxDl9Z

— JA Entertainment (@johnabrahament) August 2, 2022

So, what works in Mike?

Well, we have to start with the visuals. Mike is shot beautifully at scenic locations and Renadive’s cinematography makes it look technically sound.

The editing by Harsha Vardhan is crisp.

Coming to the story, the only part of it that works is the friendship between the two lead characters.

Rajan steals the show with her brilliant performance as Sara/Mike. She singlehandedly holds the movie together. She is charming and does her job just right. Her Kalari action scene deserves applause.

Meanwhile, Sajeev tries everything — action, dance, sentiment, and more.

Even though the title Mike is after the character played by Rajan, the movie seems to work more for Sajeev’s introduction and focuses on showcasing his talent.

This is where the makers lost control.

Loud music, flat writing

Then, what didn’t click in the movie are Hesham Abdul Wahab’s music and Ashiq Akbar Ali’s writing, definitely.

The background score and songs make it an aggravating chore to sit through.

It appears as if Abdul Wahab wanted the audience to take notice that the makers have hired a music director — it’s so loud and exasperating.

The writing is so flat that at no moment would we feel any kind of emotional connection with the characters.

The characters lack depth, which makes it hard to understand their transformation. And their backstories, which would have been a cliche even if it was a 1980s movie, keep on coming.

In between, I lost count of the number of songs, and what was that stylish action scene for?

Director loses focus

It took more than 30 minutes after the title card to find a scene without drinks or smoke. That is the first half of the first half. It only gets worse.

From the second half of the first half, the focus is lost on the subject being discussed in the beginning — gender dysphoria.

Director Vishnu Sivaprasad has boldly selected a plot that is unique. The film tries to bring a strong, progressive and socially-relevant subject to the fore. But it somehow loses track.

For, what we got at the end is a mass, romantic, dramatic movie out of it. To sum it up, the movie criminally wasted good content!