Loham opens innocently with a man’s body being flown home to Kerala from Dubai. And you learn that the young man who met an accidental death at his workplace has left behind a young wife (Mythily) and an aged father. But this pain onscreen is soon suspended with the arrival of Jayanthi (Andrea) a young, stylishly attired woman who lands in Kochi. She is searching for her husband Ramesh, a customs officer, who has not returned home and has not called her for the past few days.
Chauffeuring her around is taxi driver Raju (Mohanlal). Jayanthi visits her husband’s friend, his mother and then his elder brother, a police office, to enquire about Ramesh’s whereabouts.
Sadly, the pain of a wife who does not know the whereabouts of her husband is just not there in the scenes that unfold. The seriousness of the situation seems to have been trivialised. Instead, the focus is on Raju and his talkative nature. Jayanthi finds time to attend a wedding party, at the insistence of her young niece, and even dances. Get the drift?
Yet, one hopes, the main story will emerge soon. But director and scriptwriter Ranjith disappoints after shocking viewers with Raju’s real personality.
Mohanlal in his inimitable style draws a chuckle now and then, but beyond that there is nothing to rave about.
With sub-plot woven into the main story and new characters making their appearances and exits without making an impact, this is an easily forgotten story.
Although the plot revolving around a smuggling nexus had good potential, Loham eventually fizzles out as it emphasises that one can get away with crime including cold-blooded murder in broad daylight.
