Bhishmar Movie Review: A relic that mistook itself for a film

Bhishmar Movie Review

East Coast Vijayan's Bhishmar feels like a film that accidentally got released 20 years too late… and even then, it feels outdated. The story follows Murugan (Dhyan Sreenivasan), a vegetable shop owner still stuck in the past, who longs for his ex-lover Gouri, now in a toxic marriage. Alongside this, there’s this entire night-long track involving college students… Aravindan, a hopeless lover boy; Sulthan, a boring Arjun Reddy prototype; and Raziya, who mostly exists as someone waiting to be rescued. What follows is a confusing mix of old-school romance, forced comedy, random thriller elements, and a whole lot of noise over the course of one night.

Director: East Coast Vijayan

Cast: Dhyan Sreenivasan, Vishnu Unnikrishnan, Divya Pillai, Ammayra Goswami, Unni Lalu

Right from the beginning, the film screams outdated. The flashback sections between Murugan and Gouri seem lifted straight from Vijayan’s old non-film albums. Candyfloss, melodrama, zero subtlety… it just doesn’t work today. Then comes the comedy. Or at least what the film assumes to be comedy. Most of it is confusion-based, loud, and forgettable. You don’t laugh, you just sit there wondering when this 142-minute ordeal will end.

Dhyan Sreenivasan does his usual thing, looking completely uninterested, like he does from time to time, as this "weekend star" who appears with one abomination after another on a fortnightly basis. There’s no emotional weight, no intensity, nothing, despite trying to paint him as this macho man with a brooding heart. Divya Pillai as Gouri is equally flat. Even when her character gets “strong” moments, it ends up being unintentionally hilarious rather than powerful. Vishnu Unnikrishnan and Ammayra Goswami take things in a whole new direction, overacting like there’s no tomorrow.

The biggest issue with Bhishmar is the writing. The film keeps jumping genres without properly doing justice to any of them. Important themes like abuse and trauma are treated so casually that you don’t feel anything. And Vijayan even adds a twist that may have made for a fun entertainer in the middle of this, not because it makes sense, but because the film doesn’t know what else to do. Technically, too, everything feels stuck in the past. The staging, editing, and emotional beats don't feel fresh or engaging.

And just when you think it can’t get any more bizarre, Bhishmar ends with a reimagined ‘Paalnila Punchiri’. Now, for context, this isn’t just any random song. It’s actually an evergreen hit in Mappila songs, and the film brings it back in a new version. The way it is used here feels so random and tonally off that it just reminds you that the director is still stuck in his album-video mindset. By the end, you’re not even angry or frustrated. Just tired... And a bit confused about how this relic of a film actually made it to theatres in this age.