916

M Mohanan’s 916 is a movie that fails to take off to a new level of storytelling. The makers can claim that the story is relevant in the new society and all. But the simplicity or rather silliness and the repeated theme make this movie not so special. We have seen many movies based on divorce and how it influences the children in a family. Mohanan tries to repeat the same theme on the current society but unfortunately he is stuck on the old generation.

The plot is basically about a dad and his daughter. Doctor Harikrishnan and his daughter Meera. As Meera grows Harikrishnan’s worries also increases as a normal dad. He spots her with a boy and his tension increases and it results in a situation where he slaps and she leaves her father. When he tries to find her, he understands that she is with her mother and then the movie revolves around this family’s emotional backdrop.

The basic problem with the movie is that its level of social commitment is almost in a preaching level which will be a really boring experience when compared to the level of narration of modern day movies. The theme doesn’t have any freshness and the only plus I found in the movie was the ease in performance of the actors especially Anoop Menon. Otherwise it’s a cliché melodramatic Malayalam movie.

On screen, Anoop Menon again impresses us with his Calicut slang and the ease with which he naturally emotes is simply superb. Malavika had some hiccups in the emotional scenes. But in the combination scenes with Anoop Menon she was really impressive as a new comer. KPSC Lalitha’s character just vanished into air after a few minutes. Asif Ali’s role actually has no big importance compared to his star value and a younger face would have been more apt for the role. After a while Asif is also missing from the film. Monica was good in both shades. Mukesh and Meera Vasudev did their part impressively along with Nandu.

In the making, I think in the practical scenes Mohanan had his grip over the script and with Anoop Menon portraying the role neatly the movie went smoothly in those areas. First time I felt Asif as impressive in dialog delivery in this movie. The portion were he describes about his mother was really good especially because of the positive energy he brought on screen. The flirting boy in Meera’s school was an annoying addition. Back to back songs were also quite disturbing. The melodrama surrounding the divorce of the main protagonists was also quite stretched out and movie totally leaves its pleasant atmosphere. Faisal Ali’s cinematography was nice. But still he couldn’t bring that charm of Ordinary. M Jayachandran’s music was good.

Overall, 916 is a cliché Melodramatic family drama which offers very few for the audience to rethink. Preaching movies are just not what the doctor ordered. I am giving 2/5 for this one from Mr Mohanan. Watch it only for Anoop Menon.