Rebel review: A predictable campus story of political violence told in a pointless film

Campus stories have always been a good theme for filmmakers. The latest to this list is GV Prakash Kumar’s Rebel, which is said to be based on real-life incidents.

Nikesh RS’s directorial debut revolves around a group of Tamil students in a college in Kerala.

The flick reminds me of the recent incident of a student’s death in a veterinary college in Wayanad due to ragging.

But, interestingly, Rebel keeps all the political fronts on the wrong side and focuses only on the Tamil students’ party.

Let’s see how it fares:

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Synopsis

Set in the 1990s, Rebel is based on the life of plantation workers in Munnar and the issues their children face in a college in Kerala’s Palakkad.

Kathir (GV Prakash Kumar) and his friends join a government college in Chittur in Palakkad.

The college offers a 25 percent quota for Tamil students from Munnar. Tamil students who join this college are mainly the children of plantation workers.

Rebel has two political outfits for students — KSQ and SFY (refers to the Kerala Students Union and Students Federation of India respectively).

The Tamil students are ill-treated in the college by the members of these two student outfits.

There is an A-hostel for Malayalee students and a B-hostel for Tamil students. The B-Hostel is more of a garage.

Vexed with the ill-treatment, the Tamil students launch a third political wing. Will they win the college elections? — This is the crux of the story.

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Analysis

The songs composed by GV Prakash Kumar have come out well.

The cinematography is good.

The story is decent as it’s based on a real story. But it isn’t conveyed well. It looks more like a fiction.

Though Kathir feels for Sarah (Mamitha Baiju), the director doesn’t develop a routine, lengthy love track. Instead, he focuses on the issues, which is a relief.

Anyone non-Malayali who watches the movie might think that Keralites are atrocious. Sadly, that is the impression Rebel makes.

There is no Malayali character with a positive role in the film.

The movie has a cliched format of storytelling and is melodramatic.

There are no lighter moments anywhere because it is a serious story.

Poor writing makes it predictable. Director Nikesh RS fails in the execution.

Performances

Rebel has decent performances by GV Prakash who plays the title role.

Mamitha Baiju as Sarah has nothing much to perform.

Karunas, as the Tamil professor, is good.

Venkatesh, as the KSQ leader Antony, is decent.

Shalu Rahim, as Charlie, is impressive.

Irshad and Rajesh Sharma are good, too.

Final take

Rebel is a pointless film on campus politics and violence. An intense story of this kind should have been written and executed well.

(Views expressed here are personal.)