Barroz Review: Mohanlal’s Directorial Debut Is A Visual Splendor But Falls Short on Execution

Debutant director Mohanlal has been hung up on the 3D element of Barroz: Guardian of Treasures. So much so that every other aspect of the film has gotten little to no attention. Even Mohanlal, the incredible performer, is absent as everything about Barroz comes across as a stage play captured on camera. The only focus of the team has been to come up with various ways to gloat the 3D elements of the film on the face of the viewer. A flower bouquet will get an unnecessary slow-motion shot as Barroz extends it to Isabell (Maya Rao). The idea is to impress the audience as the flowers extend outside the screen, but even children (who seem to be the target audience of the film) lose interest as such gimmicks become redundant. Beyond the brilliant execution of the 3D technology and the superlative production design, Barroz has little to offer concerning an engaging story.

Based on Portugal and Kerala myths, Barroz has a brilliant premise about an ancient warrior who guards the treasure of Portuguese ruler da Gama in Goa. When Maratha warriors invade Goa, the Portuguese king da Gama and his troops are forced to flee their fort. As they cannot take their treasure back home, they perform African black magic and sacrifice their loyal servant Barroz, who is cursed to guard the fortune for centuries as a formidable ghost. As part of the curse, Barroz’s ghost should hand over the keys to the treasure to the heir of da Gama.

The film begins with the arrival of Isa Ron (Maya Rao) (who seems to be a reincarnation of da Gama’s daughter Isabella) in Goa. Barroz’s ghost starts to find ways to fulfil his duty by connecting with Isa, the only person who can see Barroz. The film follows the usual path of Isa distrusting Barroz and slowly coming to love him as her father. The age-old arc gets executed in a dated fashion lacking any innovative moments that make us feel the emotion. The conflict comes in the form of a greedy Portugal historian and an African black magician, who, of course, are descendants of the bad guys from the 16th century. Meanwhile, Isa, a motherless child, also has a bone to pick with her dad, who has no time for her. Barroz is a bundle of such cliches that are executed in the most dated fashion.

Except for Mohanlal, the film doesn’t have familiar faces as the cast is entirely Caucasian. Without any exception, like all the white actors in Indian films, actors deliver melodramatic performances that would be excessive even for a stage play. The banal dialogues further make things dull, despite the vibrant and opulent production design. Even Mohanlal’s performance looks subpar as scenes are contrived to render themselves for 3D gimmicks. Thus, there is no room for genuine drama and emotions between the characters. The action sequences look like they are straight out of the ’80s as the choreography is sluggish and lacks any creativity.

Director Mohanlal seems to be the problem with Barroz, which could have been the entertaining feel-good fantasy film it strives to be. He fails to execute this promising idea and has come up with a film where scenes are disjoint and lifeless. Barroz could have been Malayalam cinema’s answer to the Pan-Indian trend had Mohanlal put as much effort into writing and performances as he did with the production design and the 3D aspect of the film.