DD Next Level

The screenplay is largely breezing through one humour trope after the other. There are well-written, enjoyable and elaborate sequences that effectively overshadow the wafer-thin plotline of the story. The narration sags every time the director attempts to tell something serious about breaking the curse of the haunted island and surviving the man-eating killers. Our patience waiting for the next joke or a slapstick sequence grows thin whenever Kissa gets emotional after Hitchcock says he will do terrible things to his family. To the film's advantage, the premise is inherently built on a joke goldmine. Reliefs such as Kissa and Babu's gibberish and diary fight scenes, bid to make Inspector Raghavan and his sidekick believe they are Gautam Vasudev Menon and Redin Kingsley, with their real-life references being dispatched regularly.

Director Prem Anand and Santhanam’s team deserve applause for the concept they tried to incorporate in ‘DD Next Level’. It has so many layers. It’s a horror comedy. It’s a meta movie. It’s a funny critique of film critics. So much potential, isn’t it? But, it’s not milked entirely. This great concoction gives way to a hilarious stretch (approximately 25 minutes) in the first half.

Ever so often through the film, Hitchcock Iruthyaraj keeps reiterating to Kissa that he has to suffer through this second reality as reviewers so easily write off a film saying ‘first half lame, second boring’. In the case of watching and reviewing Santhanam’s Devil’s Double Next Level, one can’t even write ‘first half lame, second boring’ - the entire experience of watching the film was excruciating to say the least.

This inventive plot of DD Next Level is lovely to hear, but the film does not get too inventive in terms of its storytelling or its comedy, and achieves only halfway marks in both of them. While the first half has some laughs here and there, the second half is mostly dull and there are only a couple of scenes which could evoke laughter from audiences. Santhanam has done well in the film, but it does not have a great support cast and many artists like GVM, Kingsley and Lollu Sabha Maaran could have used better in the film. The film also has a lot of indecent comics which may be a squirm in the seat for many audiences. On the whole, DD Next Level is one level below what we saw in DD Returns, but it will suit the fans of the genre who will have to keep expectations low for this chapter. Verdict: A time-pass entertainer for fans of the franchise!