Ohh Cinderella movie review: Frivolous storytelling mitigates an important subject in Anoop Menon’s take on #MeToo movement

2/5

Ohh Cinderella story: On the very day that director Ameer’s comeback movie releases, he is informed that a sexual harassment case is filed against him by a woman named Cinderella. However, Ameer has no memory of anyone by that name. The surprises and shocks that await him as he and his gang of friends go into hiding, form the plot.

Ohh Cinderella review: The title card of actor-scriptwriter Anoop Menon’s latest movie Ohh Cinderella also bears the tagline – ‘Fiction is better than the truth’. It’s in tune with the movie’s most interesting bit, the core subject that it tries to address is about how a filmmaker perceives his night with a woman. It’s interesting because, unlike movies like Mammootty’s Ganagandharavan, Ohh Cinderella doesn’t entirely make a mockery out of an important aspect such as sexual harassment and its repercussions; but the frivolous storytelling leading up to that and how the subject is tackled without the gravity it deserves, mitigates the thought behind it.

For over an hour and a half, Anoop, who has also written the movie helmed by Renolze Rehman, tries to paint a picture of its protagonist Ameer – a man-child filmmaker, who is trying to make a comeback with a ridiculously titled film. The first half hour pokes fun at actors, filmmakers, brand consultants, reviewers and social media influencers, and some of these work – though the film doesn’t really go anywhere with those. In fact, right in the middle of the first show of his movie, Ameer is informed that a woman named Cinderella (Dilsha Prasannan) has filed a sexual harassment case against him.

Also read: ‘I’d have to shell Rs 25 lakh more to get another actor’ – Ohh Cinderella’s Anoop Menon on working within limits 

What follows next is total abandonment of the preceding plot as Ameer and his duo of friends flee to Theni. It's only towards the end of the second act, that the audience is let on to why Cinderella had filed the case. Credit must be given for these portions as Anoop ably shows the two different perspectives of a particular night – from the point of view of Ameer, a self-centered man who has always had a “use and throw mentality” towards women and that of Cinderella, who had built up a hopeful world based on his promises.

But that’s the only good bit that seems focused in Ohh Cinderella, which is all over the place; to get to the interesting portions, the audience will have to endure some dull and meandering storyline with some disturbing characters thrown in the mix too. For instance, Jeremiah (Nandu), the caretaker of a house that Ameer and his friends stay in, is shown as a sexual deviant who mistreats his employee. Even though the intention was to show how men prey on the powerless and use their silence and weakness to further cause more damage, all of this barely comes through. Instead, the writer seems quite confused as to how to place Nandu’s character.

Also read: Ohh Cinderella: Prashanth Alexander mocks certain stars' promotional plans in this hilarious teaser 

While the lawyer sequence helps inform the audience of the existing law on workplace sexual harassment as well as addresses the nuances of this in consensual relationships, some of the right intention gets undone when a production controller distastefully advices Ameer on how to carry himself in the post #MeToo era.

Ohh… also, Ohh Cinderella is not definitely going to pass the Bechdel Test; but that will be the least of anyone’s concern while watching the film, which is just shy of two hours, but feels longer, thanks to the unnecessary songs and aimless storytelling.

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Ohh Cinderella verdict: The best part of this Anoop Menon-starrer lasts just 15 minutes.