Noted scenarist Robin Thirumala's debut directorial venture Chembada (meaning Red Army), based on a novel published in a popular weekly, revolves around a music troupe of youngsters, headed by its mentor Captain Mukundan Menon, who specialize in looting and killing every wrongdoer! Their aim is to cleanse the world of crime and injustice.

Manu, a naive guy from Vagamon and son of a driver working for R.K. Nair, a rich planter, loved Meenakshi (Sreedevika), an innocent girl. But Meenakshi was raped by the planter and his accomplices. Being loyal to the master, Manu's father took the blame upon himself and got arrested. Things took a different turn when his father commited suicide in jail under suspicious circumstances and Meenakshi went missing. Manu then took up arms to avenge R.K. Nair and his men, but was beaten and left badly wounded in a desolate place, where he was found by the troupe members. Manu, who is later inducted into the troupe, gets a new name, Harikrishnan, and becomes active in the troupe's activities. What happens next forms the rest of the movie.

On reading the basic plot, you will surely be eager to watch the film. But when it comes to its presentation, Chembada ends up as yet another disappointing film with very average performances and bad direction. Director Robin Thirumala, who also wrote the script, could have made a racy thriller but he has failed to explore the possibilities of the story.

The technical aspects are below average. There are plenty of loopholes in the amateur script. The film, planned as a musical thriller, also suffers from mediocre music. Of all the songs, only "Ente pranayathin Taj Mahal" is worthy of praise.

Banner: Garden films
Producers: Jagadish K. Nair and Abdul Azeez
Director: Robin Thirumala
Cast: Bala, Sreedevika and others
Music: Muzafir
Camera: Noushad