Aashiq Abu's tryst with guns and henchmen began with the 2014 film 'Gangster'. 10 years later, he is back with yet another revenge drama, but with more guns and style than its predecessor.

A young superstar Shah Jahan (Vineeth Kumar) arrives at the Rifle Club, owned by a powerful family in Wayanad, who are all trained in handling guns by the patriarch Kuzhuveli Lonappan (Vijayaraghavan). His sons Avaran (Dileesh Pothan) and Godjo (Vishnu Agasthya) are hardly friendly with each other and the friction is evident among their wives played by Unnimaya Prasad and Darshana. Vani Viswanath's character Itty is also a prominent member of the family and a guaranteed shooter.

Trouble begins when a young couple, who are on the run as they are being chased by gangsters, arrives at the Rifle Club. The character build-up in the first half and the premises may remind you of the Anjooti family in Bheeshma Parvam or the Thiruvachola family of the movie 'O,Baby' though the family dynamics are completely different. Some parts of the plot line even has a 'Varathan' approach.

The story by Dileesh Karunakaran, Shyam Pushkarans and Suhas is too simple and predictable for a revenge drama, which dampens the excitement of the film, though the makers have managed to make up for it with plenty of actions. Anurag Kashyap, who essayed a villain's role in 'Maharaja' plays an egotistic gangster in 'Rifle Club' along with Hanumankind who plays his son. However, apart from the build-up, the character lacks the heft of villainy, though he keeps reminding Avaran that he is a tiger.

The interplay between two scenes - one at the Rifle Club when Hanumankind's character arrives in search of the young couple and the other at the forest where Avaran and Shah Jahan are hunting for a wild boar- is interesting.

The songs by Rex Vijayan, don't leave an impact initially, but the beats that grow on you eventually. For fans of Wild West movies, Aashiq Abu manages to pull off a decent Western Ghat version of the genre.

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