A road movie in a debut vehicle seems a safe and decent bet. The trend set in the mid-60s in the form of Hindi colossal hit Gumnaam has been faithfully followed over the years in all languages.

A bunch of teenagers on a road trip to the forest run into two men - Yogi Babu and Karunakaran. The two are supposed to be a painter and a carpenter, looking for that splash of excitement in an aligned world. Then, all of them meet and combine to unearth a murder plot, all looks to be fine.

Debut director Dennis Manjunath with all his long experience with short films and having assisted Sam Anton has done well to rung in the excitement sans the desired cliches. The dialogues are a let-down, prosaic right through, which essentially robs the quality of the fare.

Lead man Praveen Kumar, who had a cameo in his earlier film 100, gets elevated to be the protagonist and does total justice to the contrived plot. Sunainaa is his ladylove and it is surprising to see her in a limited role with scarce scope to perform.

The fringe actors in the movie - Tandoori David, VJ Sindhu, VJ Rakesh, Lakshmipriya, Nancy Jennifer and Athulya Chandra make the most of the offering. Their acts are confined to the hushed whispers but they are effective all the way.

Expectedly, cinematographer Udhayashankar hogs the limelight, bringing in the usual to the expected highs. Music composer Sidhu Kumar is also clearly inspired, two numbers showcase his potential, screaming to be tapped.

The plot is nothing new but in the effective treatment, the director has scored, aided to a great extent by the sound mix of Jaison Jose and the design effect of Vishnu Namboodiri.

As the plot thickens, there are a few casualties and it is up to the plum character to unravel the mystery. A few years down the line, this ‘trip’ may not fall in the nostalgic category for the production house but in delivering a point, in their uninhibited approach, there are a few pluses to be carried forward.