Ring Master
Prince (Dileep) who is raised in a circus camp ultimately becomes a caretaker of a lady’s (Ranjini) dogs and in an unexpected situation he is forced to introduce Diana, one of the pet dog into the world of cinema.
Dileep is likeable most of the times as Prince. But in parts, goes over the top. He is not so loud in the first half and entertains with one liner. His new hair-do suits his character in the second half. Keerti Suresh as a blind girl has improved a lot in histrionic department but still has to concentrate on her dubbing part. Honey Rose has got one of the poor characters and she is completely forced. Shajon is neat while Aju does his job. Suraaj is entertaining as the Advocate cum Producer. Yesteryear actress Ranjini returns to the big screen and unfortunately she has got a disappointing role. Director Rafi himself debuts as a director and he is a surprise package. Others like Vijayaraghavan, Pakru etc are alright.
The basic plot is the hero character’s relationship and acquaintance with the Pet Dogs. But Rafi throws many sub-plots to keep things engaging. Partly it works and partly disappoints. The flashback episodes involving Dileep and Honey Rose looks very contrived and contributes nothing towards the proceeding. So is the relationship between she and her father. In second half things look much loud and the scene where Dileep’s character makes his Dog piss looks irritating. Thus, the screenplay looks crowded but the onliners and few characters provide some genuine laughs. Its the dialogues which brings the laughter rather than the mannerisms of actors. Direction is average. It is the first film from the vintage Rafi-Mecartin team after their parting and we could conclude that Rafi does a mediocre job but shines in dialogues department.
Shaji’s cinematography is fine and visually things are quiet rich. Gopi Sundar’s songs are average and so is his background scores. Looks like there was hardly something called editing, as the movie looks stretched in both halves testing the patience at times.
Initial minutes are quite weak, but the movie gets into momentum afterwards and provides some laughs. Second half is somewhat loud but still the formula works here and there resulting in some fun. On a whole, Ringmaster is targeted at vacation crowds and it works at parts. Few genuine laughs are guaranteed and can be watched once if you are okay with formulaic movie like this.
