Barroz Review: Did Mohanlal Miss His Chance As A Great Storyteller?

In the world of Toy Story, The Lion King, Frozen, Shrek, Moana, Inside Out, and Spirited Away, Barroz: Guardian of Treasures, directed by Malayalam acting great Mohanlal, would be a misfit.

(Spoiler alert)

Barroz (Mohanlal), who has been chained inside a treasure hole for almost four centuries, is being released as a 13th-generation descendant of the wealth that comes back. Barroz, a loyal servant of a Portuguese governor in Goa in the seventeenth century, destined to be the guardian of Portuguese (plundered) wealth, meets Isabella (Maya Rao West) in the present-day scenario as greed waits to destroy everything. Then, Isabella, daughter of a businessman, joins hands with Barroz to set everything right, including the personal struggles of the teenager.

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For Mohanlal, Barroz was a great chance to connect with children, a base he lost decades back after he turned to the mass entertainment genre. But the entertainer, who carved a niche as the best in the industry as an actor, unfortunately misses the chance to place himself among great directors who were once actors.

The film not only lacks historical accuracy and political correctness while dealing with a colonial figure like da Gama, but also fails terribly in the execution.

Barroz’s and Mohanlal’s major offering, as the director detailed in his many interviews and press meets, was the cutting-edge tech and 3D experience. Sadly, tech and 3D are done with such carelessness and irresponsibility and fail to meet the qualities of the best My Dear Kuttichathan, Mohanlal himself had claimed the legacy of the movie in an interaction.

As an actor, Mohanlal has done what he had to do, though the pace and dialogues are mostly mismatched, but as a character, whether Barroz would connect with the children or not is impossible to say. Maya Rao West as Isabella had the same and equal responsibility to deliver a meaningful performance, but the wonder girl who comes back to meet Barroz Papa is underperforming and misses the quality to emerge as a promising actor, especially since major international projects like Harry Potter and The Chronicles of Narnia had set a certain standard in the casting.

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One major question about Barroz will be the emergence of Mohanlal as director. This shift, with good and great actors turning directors, is not uncommon in the film industry, as several renowned actors have successfully taken the director’s chair, blending their acting experience with creative storytelling. In Hollywood, Clint Eastwood stands tall with masterpieces like Million Dollar Baby and American Sniper. Mel Gibson’s Braveheart and Hacksaw Ridge have left indelible marks, while Denzel Washington’s Fences and Antwone Fisher show his prowess behind the camera. George Clooney has directed critically acclaimed films such as Good Night, and Good Luck and The Ides of March. Marlon Brando, however, faced setbacks with his directorial debut, One-Eyed Jacks.

In Bollywood, stalwarts like Raj Kapoor (Awaara, Sangam) and Guru Dutt (Pyaasa, Kaagaz Ke Phool) set benchmarks in filmmaking. Contemporary actors like Aamir Khan (Taare Zameen Par) and Naseeruddin Shah (Yun Hota Toh Kya Hota) also ventured into direction with notable success. Pooja Bhatt (Paap, Jism 2) and Nandita Das (Manto, Firaaq) further enriched Indian cinema with their directorial efforts.

Mohanlal’s own Malayalam cinema has its share of actors-turned-directors. Veteran actor Madhu debuted with Priya and helmed several acclaimed films. Prathap Pothen made a mark with Meendum Oru Kaathal Kathai, winning a National Award, and Sreenivasan directed classics like Vadakkunokkiyanthram.

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Mohanlal’s directorial debut, the eagerly anticipated moment in the Malayalam industry given his unmatched legacy in Indian cinema, falls short of the expectations. The actor, whose experience with master craftsmen of cinema like Shaji N Karun, Mani Ratnam, Padmarajan, Bharathan, and Fazil wouldn’t be a magnitude to ascertain his skills as a director, but his direction couldn’t match decades of experience of the great actor. There can be arguments that Mohanlal was dealing with a subject centred on fantasy and aimed at children as well as the anticipation of a great delivery based on the aura of his acting prowess. But he missed a chance.

Another serious issue the movie lacks is the reading of the notorious legacy of Vasco da Gama and the Portuguese colonial presence in India, which is a complex and contentious chapter in history, particularly from a Third World perspective, especially when the story is being told to the children. The story of Barroz, except for the last dialogue of the protagonist, fails to mark da Gama’s voyage as the beginning of European imperialism in Asia, leading to centuries of exploitation.

It also falls short of showing how the Portuguese established a colonial stronghold in Goa, exploiting India’s resources and engaging in forced religious conversions, cultural erasure, and oppressive trade practices. Barroz’s loyalty-filled narrative ignores how the Portuguese were the harbingers of colonial dominance, leaving behind a legacy of subjugation and economic extraction.

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Timeline verdict: Whatever is written above is an opinion of an adult. Obviously, there is always a chance that the children may see the movie in a different context. However, Barroz lacks elements that could have been additions to make the movie more enjoyable to all, especially for children.

Barroz Crew

Direction: Mohanlal
Writing: Kalavoor Ravikumar
Cinematographer:
Music by: Mark Kilian, Lydian Nadhaswaram

Cast: Mohanlal, Maya Rao West, Ignacio Mateos, Kallirroi Tziafeta