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When guns start blazing around them, the patriarch Kuzhiveli Lonappan (Vijayaraghavan) is asked, ‘Didn’t you wish for a day like this?’ Set in the 1990s, in Kerala’s Western Ghats, Lonappan leads a large family that takes immense pride in their society of firearms, which they fondly call the Rifle Club. Aashiq Abu directs the film where guns are cradled with as much affection as one would a newborn. “A gun can never have a price, it can only have a successor,” goes one of the film’s haunting lines.
The mini rivalries among the characters and the framed photos of the predecessors on the wall highlight that the Rifle Club, much like its prized guns, is not a dynastic space. Lonappan favors Kaduvachalil Avaran (Dileesh Pothan) over his son Godjo (Vishnu Agasthya), a preference that persistently annoys the latter. The system is akin to any family besides the fact that they are all adept shooters. The sharpest among the women is Ittiyanam (Vani Vishwanath), whose ex-husband, Dr. Lazar (Suresh Krishna), remains a regular at the club and laments being a member of the club but no longer part of the family. Aashiq Abu, in a keenly observed plot, presents a version of Kerala where everyone has designated jobs, including companion animals.
When Shahjahan (Vineeth Kumar), a light-eyed romantic hero in Malayalam cinema, approaches Rifle Club to research for his upcoming action thriller named ‘Vettamrugam’ (translates to ‘Prey’), little do we imagine the fury that’s on its way. Soon, we understand the family’s petty politics, the club’s unsaid hierarchies, and how they unite in crisis.
Bheera (Hanumankind), son of a Mangalorean gangster named Dayanand Bare (Anurag Kashyap), lands up at the house in search of Ali (Ramzan Muhammed) and Rifle Club marks its interval jolt in style. The rest of Aashiq Abu’s film is about carving a narrative that illustrates the wild, wild side of the East.
Rifle Club lies in its very premise teems with untapped action potential. There’s no need to force thrills when you have an extended family that delights in the art of recreational gunplay. The women, who are never subservient, wield guns and gulp alcohol with the same gusto as the men of the house. It offends Ittiyanam when Bheera asks, “Aren’t there any men in the house to speak with?”
Aashiq Abu does justice to the casting director by gifting every actor – big or small – a glorious scene or two. If Thockachan (Prashant Murali), a priest who loves guns, chants a hilarious gun-tinged Bible verse, Sicily (Unnimaya Prasad) and Kunjumol (Darshana Rajendran) compete in firing bullets, playfully wondering if this is what they call ‘nathoon poru’ (warring sisters-in-law). In a later scene, Shah Jahan, who once blushes at the dinner table, gets to show off his kicking prowess. The elderly Shoshamma (Ponnamma Babu), instead of moving to a safe spot with the children of the house, fires point blank from inside a wooden closet.
Avaran and Godjo in their mini-rivalry of sorts back some of Rifle Club’s funniest moments (staged in a hiding spot as they interact with the antagonist). The writers—Syam Pushkaran, Dileesh Karunakaran, and Suhas—masterfully capture the unique lingo of migrant Christians in North Kerala, all while subtly highlighting their distinct culinary habits. At one point, Avaran serves Shahjahan with porcupine meat and mentions how, unlike Pork, it isn’t haram in the latter’s religion. At another, we see Sicily casually announce her pregnancy to husband Avaran with her desire to eat the wild boar’s liver which in the Sathyan Anthikkad universe would be a wish to eat raw mango (if you know, you know).
Rifle Club is also a visual and aesthetic marvel in many ways. Each character is defined by their styling (costumes by Mashar Hamsa) – a brief that most actors seem to ace although Surabhi Lakshi should have done away with the bangs. Aashiq Abu’s camera lovingly lenses the frames with the right balance of pans, zooms, Jimmy jibs, and slow-motion shots. During a stretch, the film separates two sets of violent acts – one at the rifle club and another in the jungle – with aerial shots of the Western Ghats. Elevated by the symphony of its atmospheric soundscape, the film weaves the dynamic interplay between humans, animals, and nature in a world where dominance is claimed through cracks of gunfire.
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Aashiq Abu has chosen his actors for the right reasons. Anurag Kashyap spells terror as the chief antagonist, delivering an act that Prakash Raj could have aced in the 2000s. The scenes between him and Hanumankind (especially the phone call) are among the best in Malayalam cinema this year. Kashyap’s vengeful walk towards the finale, dressed solely in boxers and his son’s yellow jacket, is one of the film’s defining moments. Dileesh Pothan seems to have a blast as Avaran as he puts his ‘Achayan’ physicality and the natural flair for the dialect to remarkable use. ‘90s diva Vani Vishwanath makes a fitting comeback in a part that fully visualizes her strengths. The actor is so good at her craft that a mere glance is sufficient to set the screen ablaze. Hanumankind glides smoothly between languages and lingos in a highly physical act that seldom looks like a debut. The brilliant Vijayaraghavan, following his role in Kishkindhaa Kandam, shows us how to be a “mass” star even while seated throughout. Vishnu Agasthya makes his presence felt, skillfully ensuring that Godjo’s subtle shades of grey never overpower the film’s tone. Ramzan Muhammed makes for an Indian Adonis in the dance number ‘Gandharva Gaanam’ with Navani Devanand.
In what must be a rare mass-meets-class chronicle in Malayalam, Rifle Club also steers clear of any hint of sleaze. Women have more significant roles to essay in the film than gyrating in songs to later fade into the background. For the rest, it has adults firing, drinking, and puffing away to glory as they beat a villain in style. In a lesser film, a finale as explosive as this might have ended with a line like, “Ithu Mexico alleda, Keralama Keralam,” but Aashiq Abu knows how to wrap up his film in style. With its quirky characters and a barrage of gunfire outpacing the dialogue, Rifle Club emerges as one of the most entertaining Malayalam films in an already exceptional 2024.
Rating: ★★★★
