There are things in Anjali Menon’s Koode that works and that doesn’t work compared to its original Marathi movie – Happy Journey. For instance , Happy Journey was 1 hour 56 minutes. While Koode is 40 minutes longer . Pace really takes a back seat as this difference of 40 minutes really stand out. Happy Journey was lighter, funnier. Koode’s characters have more tragic stories to tell.
But Anjali Menon, as she always does, explores human relations deeper. The father-son bond which didn’t get any prominence in Happy Journey is talked about more here. Anjali Menon’s liking for small details comes to the fore again as you could know a small toy train that Joshua (Prithviraj) makes as a kid would be an important part of the story later. Ranjith and Parvathy both are superior than the actors from the Marathi movie. The same cannot be said for Nazriya. But the best thing Anjali Menon does in Koode is casting Prithviraj as Joshua.
Prithiraj delivers such a restrained performance that his character from Indian Rupee would have come years later and said to himself – “Evide aayirunnu ithrayum kaalam ?!”. The actor returns to his “Ayalum Njanum Thammil- Mumbai Police-Memories” form as you wonder if he should let him in the hands of good experienced directors more often than he does in recent years. Prithviraj is a delight in the scene where he is first moved to tears on seeing the photos of Nazriya holding his pictures and then walks with a smiling face to her in the van.
If not for Prithviraj, I would prefer Happy Journey over Koode.
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