Blast review: Big bang ideas that fizzle out before the final frame

A middle-class family full of Karate fighters. A Rs 7,000 crore mining project on the line. A corporate villain. And his assassin to get things done for him. When all these collide,you get a script with ample scope for a wild ride. Director Subash K Raj attempts an action-heavy thriller about a happy family that just wants to mind its own business.

Blast, at a runtime of nearly two hours and 30 minutes, is a blend of multiple genres. At one point, it is about a middle-class family fighting to protect their peace. When Nila (Preity Mukundhan) is young, her father (Arjun Sarja) teaches her the most important lesson in life: stand up for the victim, even if they are not related to you. This, along with karate training from her father, makes her impossible to dislike.

It is also a film about parents — Arjun Sarja and Abhirami — who, despite being masters of karate, have their own reasons for who they are as they raise a child in a society that constantly tries to suppress her. When a corporate villain enters, Blast slips into familiar commercial entertainer territory. The good-for-nothing cops, the dumb goons who serve their dumbest leader and corrupt politicians enter — and you already know exactly where this is headed.

The plot might remind you of many films: Drishyam, Kolamaavu Kokila, Magalir Mattum (1994) — and you wouldn't be disappointed, as there are traces of all these films and many more in Blast. Yet with all the similarities, the film does a wonderful job showcasing Preity Mukundhan's Nila as a woman of substance, who believes in her freedom and agency. Her character forms the crux of the story and every time she executes the action sequences, you cannot help but admire her performance.

But underneath the story lies a predictable screenplay that sticks out like a sore thumb. For example, Nila's mother (Abhirami) is shown as a perfect saree-clad housewife, balancing caregiving duties with tailoring work. When we hear her backstory, we know and predict that she will also put on her karate shoes — not a spoiler, as it is already revealed in the trailer — during the intermission for that interval high.

Another main issue with Blast is the weak characterisation of its villains and cops. Starting from Varun Dayal, the corporate villain played by John Kokken, to assassin Abraham (Arjun Chidambaram) and the cop (Dileepan), they are men running their business on low IQ. If it was a conscious choice, the story could have made for a solid dark comedy where people fight to prove who is the dumbest. Here, the villains leave traces every step of the way, yet the cops still fail to catch them.

Preity Mukundhan, Abhirami and Arjun Sarja perform their roles with conviction. It also helps that they have solid character arcs that give them room to breathe. Vivek Prasanna, in a supporting role, ably supports the cast. Arjun Chidambaram and John Kokken, as the villains, bring one-dimensional performances to Blast.

Blast had the ingredients for a gripping dark thriller. But it keeps showing its hand too early — and at two and a half hours, overstays its welcome long before the final frame.