‘Por’ movie review: Bejoy Nambiar’s technical prowess overpowers the plot in this battle for our attention

Bejoy Nambiar’s bilingual Por is a rollercoaster of a ride, and I don’t mean it just metaphorically. Por Director: Bejoy Nambiar Cast: Arjun Das, Kalidas Jayaram, Sanchana Natarajan, TJ Bhanu Storyline: A personal rivalry between two students snowballs into something bigger that puts a lot more at stake than what they intend Runtime: 153 minutes Considering the obvious final showdown the film bravely teases us with in its very first shot, the plot mildly thickens with a story that does not involve the two lead protagonists. In fact, the film’s technical prowess almost covers up the underwhelming core idea and mostly disinteresting subplots that are meant to help the story progress. Kalidas’ character Yuva, for example, happens to be the title of the Hindi version of Aayutha Ezhuthu, Mani’s bilingual take on college and politics which also featured an ensemble cast. However, Por is not one of those films that can be brushed away by listing it under the ‘all style and no substance’ category; it’s got some fascinating ideas, the performances are quite good and the film looks overtly stylish.