Gold Movie Review: Prithviraj, Nayanthara and Alphonse Puthren’s film could have been a short film
Alphonse Puthren – the name is enough to evoke a smile on everyone’s faces, thanks to his films, Neram and the much-loved Premam. Seven years later, the director is back with his third outing, Gold, which managed to create curiosity with almost zero promotions. So, did Alphonse Puthren strike gold with his Gold?
The film begins with Joshi (Prithviraj Sukumaran), the owner of a mobile shop. His mother (Mallika Sukumaran) wakes him up to say that someone has parked a lorry full of speakers at their gate. Despite complaining to the police, the lorry stays there for a few days. Much to his surprise, he finds out that they are not just speakers, but gold bars.
Meanwhile, Unnikrishnan has fixed a wedding for his daughter Sumangali (Nayanthara) with a wannabe rich family. What does Unnikrishnan have to do with the gold bars? Who parked the vehicle? Will Joshi take advantage? Gold has answers to all these questions.
With just two films to his credit, Alphonse Puthren has developed a cult following for himself. Naturally, the expectations for Gold spiked because it’s his comeback film. However, Gold is definitely not the comeback film that fans expected out of Alphonse. The film has a wafer-thin storyline that remains stagnant for the most part. In fact, Gold hardly had any substance that could have been conveyed via a short film.
Here’s the teaser:
Sitting through two-and-a-half hours of Gold, you can’t help but think of your science lessons. Can time stand still? Why do two hours feel like five hours? Apart from the story about the gold bars, you also get answers to these scientific questions.
That said, Gold also had interesting ideas to explore. However, Alphonse penned an incohesive screenplay that hardly kept us intrigued. For example, you are curious to know how Prithviraj’s Joshi will outshine the cops. But, imagine if the entire sequence goes on for half an hour. Alphonse, we get the point. It doesn’t have to be a half-an-hour sequence.
Prithviraj Sukumaran is the soul (whatever is left of that film) of Gold. As Joshi, he brought out the vulnerabilities of the character. But, he can only do so much to salvage this mess. Nayanthara almost plays a cameo role in the film. In the less screen time that she has, she looks beautiful.
Cinematographers Anand C Chandran and Viswajith Odukkathil’s work was impeccable, especially the lighting. Gold also had some solid music, thanks to Rajesh Murugesan.
Alphonse Puthren’s Gold could have been a decent heist comedy thriller had he paid attention to the detailing in the screenplay.
2 out of 5 stars for Gold.