Otta review: Resul Pookutty’s emotional drama is complemented by Asif Ali and Arjun Ashokan’s splendid performances

Movies Arjun Ramachandran 27/10/2023 Read the article

Otta (One) marks Oscar-winning sound designer Resul Pookutty’s directorial debut. It revolves around characters who fight against the odds to become successful.

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Instead of taking the easy path and making a film that goes with the current trend in the Malayalam industry, Otta has a complex plot that deals with some serious issues.

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Resul Pookutty introduces many characters in the movie to give an essence of what he is trying to communicate. The flashback scenes invest time in developing the characters.

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Otta, written by Kiran Prabhakaran, is inspired by S Hariharan’s Runaway Children. Family bonding takes centre stage in the film. However, some of the subplots could have been clipped for brevity.

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The movie talks about serious issues like toxic parenting, child abuse, and how employees are treated by their employers in metro cities.

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Intense performances by Asif Ali and Arjun Ashokan are the takeaways of Otta. Rohini Molleti is impressive as Hariharan’s mother and a helpless lady in a patriarchal society.

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The sound mixing is at its best. The cinematography by Arun Varma is good. The music by Zian Sreekanth and M Jayachandran does justice to the plot.

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Otta is an emotional film with an intense plot. It is certainly a safe debut for the Oscar Award winner.

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