What Is the Story About?
Freddie and Aiden are two brothers who live together in Pondicherry. Their parents passed away some time ago and the 20-something Aiden takes care of the middle-schooler, Freddie. However Aiden is finding it difficult to find work, pay the bills and take care of his younger brother while trying to figure things out for himself. Freddie, who loves to play the piano, has stopped playing altogether and has started to distance himself from Aiden. Freddie has asked Allen to drop him off at his grandmother’s place in Chennai for Christmas. Why is Freddie distancing himself? Will the brothers be alright?
Performances?
Freddie’s Piano mainly depends on the performances of two actors, Pranav Mylarassu and Aakash Prabhakar. Pranav makes his acting debut in this movie and it shows. The young actor is selected for his prowess as a pianist, but he still has some ways to go before he can be a fully-fledged actor. Still, his performance feels more raw and “rustic” and with enough time, he can become a better actor.
Aakash plays a more convincing role as the older brother, but it feels like the actor hasn’t given his all into the film. While both Pranav and Aakash do a somewhat of a decent job, they have almost no onscreen chemistry – which is an issue because their characters are brothers and they appear on screen a lot.
Mathivanan Rajendran deserves a mention as he looks like the only actor who is comfortable on screen. He also shares good onscreen chemistry with Aakash as well and their interaction is one of the few redeeming qualities of this film.
Analysis
Freddie’s Piano has a lot of issues. While the premise of the film is good – the overall execution is quite sloppy. The direction, the script management, even the dubbing needs better work. The cinematography and background score helps the movie a lot and the story manages to keep the film engaging.
The pacing of the film is quite slow. While that is fine during the first half, the second half of the movie flows at the same pace – and becomes almost unwatchable at times. This 110 minute movie could easily have been a 70 minute movie and that would have helped the movie quite a bit.
Some of the plot devices used in this movie makes no sense – like Freddie being irrationally angry at Aiden for the sake of the plot, Miss Lisa turning up towards the end of the movie, Aiden suddenly being irresponsible, etc. And most of the acting in the film is shoddy. But the interaction between most of the actors somehow feels natural (despite the shoddy work) and actually keeps you from turning away from the movie.
Pranav, the actor who portrays Freddie in Freddie’s Piano needed some more time to work on his role. The young actor has a few good performances, but the final confrontation scene feels forced and doesn’t have any weight behind it. With another week’s preparation, the film’s finale would have had a better impact.
Overall, Freddie’s Piano is a decent-ish film – once you can look past many of its glaring errors. While the premise of the film is good and there is some onscreen chemistry between a lot of actors, the chemistry between the two leads is almost non-existent.
Other Artists?
Drishya Gautam, Rajiv Choudhry and Mekha Rajan are the main supporting cast of the film. While they do not have as much screen time as either Aakash or Pranav, their presence on screen provides much needed plot depth as well as enhance the backstories of our main character duo. All three do a decent job and have an impact in the film.
Music and Other Departments?
While the story, cinematography and music are the good takeaways from this movie – the overall end product is sloppy. The slow pacing, poor dubbing, unclear depiction of the passage of time within the film and unclear plot points hamper the film as a whole. While Aakash does give us a semi-decent movie to watch in Freddie’s Piano – this movie had the potential to be something better.
Highlights?
Story
Drawbacks?
Slow pacing
Shoddy acting
Poor dubbing
Did I Enjoy It?
In parts
Will You Recommend It?
If you have the time and patience to spare, then check it out.
Freddie’s Piano Movie Review by Binged Bureau
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