Crocodile Love Story Movie Review

Story: The film is about the encounter between two lovers and a crocodile in the middle of an isolated island.

Movie Review: Crocodile Love Story begins with a stocky youth and a thin girl sitting on the dry, leafless branches of a tree and gaping down at something in a grip of fear. We would later learn that a dreadful crocodile waits under the tree after having made them clamber up the tree. The couple Kittu and Nithya love each other and had come to the remote island for leisure.

The film is about how a set of administrators, officials and locals get together to save the couple from the crocodile. This is not a chilling man-animal encounter tale filled with screams, gunshots and plenty of blood. What is implied here is satire, a commendable thought which loses sting at critical junctures.

Anoop while crafting his maiden film juggles multi-faceted tasks of picturing romance, handling satire and making a canvas where the colours and tones are poured with a sense of measure. While doing this, he makes it too long and too heavy despite some really good-natured quips which light up the narrative, the film is bogged down by a lack of dynamism.

The narrative throws up some memorable moments like a sharpshooter waiting for official sanction to find out if the crocodile is included in the man-eater list before he can shoot it and rescue the couple. In a place where even a raft is unavailable, fire-force employs huge vessels for water-transport. A couple who idealize their romantic moments savouring the beauty of the place suddenly start slamming each other when caught in the face of danger.

All these happen a bit too late almost in a rush so that the tone of the film appears distorted. Satire works when applied with a touch of subtlety and with focus. There is a palpable mocking sense that pervades the narrative which wears it off. The crocodile, a decent manifestation of technical effects, is a mere symbol of a triviality that could hurl a mob into panic. The cast accomplish their tasks with comfort and look more then credulous.