Achayans: Action-packed murder mystery

Kannan Thamarakkulam’s Achayans, which had banked upon a motorcycle-riding Amala Paul and a star-filled cast, rides on a stretchy yet humourous first half where the boy-gang is introduced.

The leader is Jayaram. Apart from his stylish avatar, he is his usual good-boy self despite being a hopeless drunkard. The younger crop consists of brother Tony (played by Unni Mukundan), who fails to make it to his wedding on time, Adil Ibrahim who, plays Eby, and Sanju Sivaram. 

The gang always loves to drink, so they are sent off to a retreat centre. Tony is given a second chance (in his marriage) but as the first half progresses, there seems to be no redemption for the gang.

It is at this moment that the tomboyish Reetha (played by Amala Paul) and Prayaga (Anu Sithara) enter the scene. Amala has obviously lost a bit of weight, but she plays the badass woman, with a rebellious hairstyle, who drinks her woes down, with style. However, by the end of the first half, there is a twist and one among the gang is killed.

Thereafter, there are some action-packed sequences and a murder mystery in the second half. Enter Prakash Raj who plays a devout Brahmin police officer, and has a reputation for being hard-nosed. His use of seasoned star Jagathy’s dialogues to solve mystery cases, is noticeable. 

The movie, from here, retains a bit of comedy, but, by then, the audience gets wrapped up with the story which explores a very different relationship towards the end.

Remya Nambeeshan and Unni have sung for the movie. Incidentally, Unni packs a good punch and looks good on screen, although his character could have been redeemed with better dialogues.