Take off Review : It will make you say Hats Off

Take Off was in the buzz since its trailer launch and the excitement only got bigger when the second trailer was released. With technical perfection and creative signature from the makers of the film, Take Off is a movie of great quality that engages you in an exciting journey with a lot of soulful characters.

A divorced Muslim woman Sameera is our main protagonist. She is a nurse and she is the only hope of her family in clearing all the financial liabilities. After a lot of hardships here, she and her friends finally gets a job offer from Iraq and even though Iraq wasn’t a safe place, they all decided to go there looking at the payment. How the civil war in Iraq destroys their dreams and how they all eventually survived all that is what Take Off dealing with.

Take Off is based on a real life incident and they have shown the actual facts and people involved in that operation in the final credit scene. PV Shajikumar who earlier wrote the film Kanyaka talkies joins hands with Mahesh Narayanan in writing this film and they have succeeded in molding a good story using the elements of the real life incident. Our leading lady here is a realistic struggler who has to deal with multiple emotional conflicts and maintain a strong will power. We get to see a practical love story between Sameera and Shaheed. That romance being very honest in its outlooks helps the film in making those characters close to the viewers. The emotional drama shifts its pace and becomes a gripping thriller in the second half with riveting moments.

We don’t get to see much of theatrical exaggerated thing in this movie. The first half of the movie is entirely Sameera’s story and Mahesh Narayanan keeps the pace of the movie relatively slower. The writers have mocked the orthodox religious mindsets without much over the top drama. From such statements to the delicate emotions that shows up in the second half, the movie manages to give a rigid structure to its characters. Cinematographer Sanu John Varghese adds more realness to the frames and the way he has captured the movie we don’t feel much of deliberate effort to make the film look huge on screen. With the support of quality production design and merged visual effects the film has superior technical quality. The cuts were perfect, the music was nice and the background score was fitting.

Watch: Awesome trailer of Take Off

Parvathy delivers a career best performance as the vulnerable, sensitive and yet mentally strong Sameera. The various emotional turmoil of the character was there in her performance. Kunchako Boban has underplayed Shaheed very effectively and that makes the character of Shaheed look supportive and progressive on screen. Fahadh Faasil only appears in the second half of the film, but with a striking portrayal as the diplomat in the Indian wing he makes the audience clap. The elaborate cast of the film has many prominent names in vital yet minimal roles and they were all good.

Take Off marks the directorial debut of Mahesh Narayanan and he has made a film that looks as good as Rajesh Pillai’s Traffic. With great performances and great quality technical expertise in its credit, Take Off will make you say Hats Off.