With ‘My Story’, Roshini Dinekar cobbles together a colorful cinematic castle where Prithviraj and Parvathy meet cute. But it pretty much ensconces itself in there without ever breaking loose from the banality of a bland love story. Jay (Prithviraj) is an aspiring actor who gets his first big break when he is chosen to co-star Tara (Parvathy), an eminent actress, in an upcoming movie. Tara is alternately morose and chirpy. The first few scenes depict Jay as the star-struck village idiot. They go out impromptu, get drunk silly, and make goo-goo eyes at each other. Pritvi and Parvathy share good chemistry that strikes you as largely unforced.
They prance around tiled streets in Lisbon, dance to sweet pop songs, and are joined by foreign dancers as if all of it was choreographed inside a bollywood film set. We learn absolutely zilch about Tara’s back story. All the same, we are expected to believe that her father (Maniyampilla Raju) has traded her personhood for the comfort of luxury. A helpless Tara now finds herself in the clutches of this powerful film producer who is like the Malayalam movie equivalent of Harvey Weinstein, only more handsome. Apparently, the only way Tara can shake off the menacingly cute villain is through Jay who is as comfortable about the prospect as a fresh graduate on his first day at job.
There are sequences in which ‘My story’ clings to the romantic formulas with the efficiency of a self-driving car. But that is not to say the movie is not entertaining. It’s got a handful of memorable moments that could easily tug at your heartstrings if you’re in the mood to overlook some corny stuff. For what it’s worth, the sheer volume of predictability will throw you off, and leave you in a snappy mood. The nifty camerawork is sight for the sore eyes, and serves as a fine counterpoint to the cheesy plot developments. The noteworthy film score has a few melodic hooks that deserve praise for lifting the sentimental sequences out of their ordinariness.
In the course of film shooting Tara develops hots for Jay, although we’re not told what exactly she sees in somebody who just joined the ranks of hundred other debutantes in the movie industry. But then you need to remind yourself that love is blind, especially in shallow screenplays with little to no regard for character development. As the predictable events in their lives unfold, a number of less evident developments take place. I won’t be revealing those details, not because I want to carefully bypass the spoiler territory, but because they are just about the only details that may make this movie worth watching for some people.
The film draws on different narrative techniques but is most at home while using Prithviraj’s voice-over narration. The story in itself does not have much to unpack in the way of content. But the non-linear structure of the narrative added a layer of complexity that looked out of line with the internal logic of the story. In any event, I felt the director managed to spin a plain story on its head, and give it an off-beat character. The story contains a mildly surprising twist, but it isn’t any more surprising than watching yet another movie playing into time-honoured cliches. The film score is the only bright spot in an otherwise uninspiring movie that is chock-full of cutesy shots and mawkish dialogues.
My story is not an awful movie. On the contrary it’s just a bad movie. What’s best about the film is that it’s got seasoned actors whom you would expect to be more discriminating in their selection process. Both actors have reached a point in their career where they must start to separate wheat from the chaff.
Director: Roshini Dinaker
Screenplay: Shankar Ramakrishnan
Cinematography: Dudley Vinod
Music: Shaan Rahman
