Mangalyam Thanthunanena

There is a climax conversation between Roy and Clara in Mangalyam Thanthunanena which even though predictable had a fine grace to its credit. My problem with the movie was that it reaches this climax after going through a lot of unappealing incidents and subplots making the climax look too alienated from the narrative we see till that point. With stock humor and too many loose end subplots, Mangalyam Thanthunanena becomes a series of dialogue jokes that one may or may not remember post the movie.

So, Roy, an NRI marries Clara, the daughter of a man who owns a private bank. Roy lost his job in the Middle East post marriage and now he is trying to clear all the debts he has. He is too egoistic to ask money from his father in law and his eye was on the jewelry his wife had. But that intention messes up the plans when his wife shows resistance and the movie Mangalyam Thanthunanena basically shows us how Roy survives this phase of the financial crisis.

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Hareesh Kanaran plays the role of the hero’s friend and he is the one who is frequently suggesting ideas to Roy on how to survive this financial crisis. See, if this movie was a slapstick comedy, I would have no issues with the movie just lingering around such ideas to extend its runtime. Roy’s attempts to escape from the tough scenario is so unreal that you won’t feel for him or empathize with him when he sort of breaks down at the end. There is no solid scene here that establishes the transformation of Roy. It almost feels like Roy decides to surrender in an escapist manner rather than realizing the worth of his wife.

Director Soumya Sadanandan has said that the movie is loosely based on something that happened in scriptwriter of the movie, Tony Madathil’s life. Seeing certain conflicts in the movie one can assume what all parts in the movie might have happened in real life. The problem is with the fillers they have used to make it a commercial Kunchako Boban movie. There is a sense of randomness to the storytelling. Soumya wants to include so many characters but the screenplay can’t really give them that space to be memorable or even relevant. The movie somewhere will remind you of Sathyan Anthikkadu’s Bhagyadevatha. But with no flair in the writing, Mangalyam Thanthunanena ends up depending too much on the climax preach. The edits are noticeably clumsy and the music isn’t making much of an impression here.

Kunchako Boban is pretty much in his safe zone here. He is easily the best choice to play Roy and like I said it is his safe zone and there isn’t much challenge here. Nimisha Sajayan’s dialogue rendering is a problem. Her expressions are natural, but when it comes to dialogue delivery, there is a missing. Hareesh Kanaran in his usual Calicut slang offers moments of laughter with his witty counters. Shanthi Krishna is gradually becoming the cool mom of the current lot of actors. The movie lingers around Roy too much that we don’t really get to see enough of the other actors. The elaborate cast of the film that includes names like Vijayaraghavan, Alencier, Leona Lishoy, Kochu Preman, Salim Kumar etc. goes missing in the crowd. When we get to see Alencier and Rony David in the second half, it almost feels like we saw them before in another movie.

Mangalyam Thanthunanena had the scope to be that simple entertainer film about marriage and its repercussions. But with an untidy screenplay and a not so appealing making, it becomes somewhat a tedious experience. The climax of the movie is okay, but the ride till that point is bumpy for both the hero and the audience.

Rating: 2/5