Mallu Singh

How can a movie which comes with the title of the leading protagonist of the story excel when the actor who plays that role gives a below average performance?. Director Vysakhs third outing with script writer Sethu (of the duo Sachi-Sethu) is a disappointing one. The plot had a different feel, but rendering it with the cliche style of typical malayalam entertainers makes this movie an ordinary one.

A normal guy from a village of kerala Ani (Kunchakko Boban) is legally fighting to keep the assets that he handles right now. The property legally belongs to his cousin Hari. But as Hari is missing for the past 7 years others who are legally eligible for the assets are trying to convince the court that he doesn’t exist (civil death). Ani gets a 3 months time as the court adjourns to declare the final verdict after this time. Ani finds out about a Harindar Singh alias Mallu Singh from a TV show and decides to go to Punjab to find whether this Mallu Singh is his missing cousin Hari. The film moves on with Ani’s attempt to find the background of Mallu Singh.

The plot has everything to make it a commercial comedy entertainer but the familiar jokes and same old style of making never creates any kind of spark in the minds of the audience. Will remind you shades of films like Rajamanikyam, Chattambi naadu etc at many places. Sethu couldnt pull of any real fun crackers. I think only 5 or 6 places were there for us to really laugh. Cliche scenes and sentimental scenes were abundant in the movie.

Kunchako Boban gave a smooth performance as Ani. Sad to say that his selection as 50th movie was not that glorious. Unni Mukundan disappoints big time with his expression less face and below average dialog rendering. Even in the dancing sequence he was dancing well but his face looked too dull. Eventhough the title of the movie is Mallu Singh the screen play never really gives much space for this character. Didnt really used the characters of Biju Menon and Manoj K Jayan. But still their small appearences gives us some light hearted moments in the film. Samvritha was good. Rest of the cast also were good in what they were asked for.

Technically, Vysakh has made some experiments with his direction style. But still his signature style (Pokkiri Raja type) is visible. Screen play disappoints a lot. No great charm in the first half and very much dragging in the second half. Director Vysakh and script writer Udhayakrishna makes cameo appearances in the opening track. Fight sequences were poor in my view. None of them felt somewhat real. Rope effect was clearly visible. Cinematography showed some level of standard in capturing the fields of Punjab. Mahesh Narayanan has tried his best to cut and make it look neat. Music is enjoyable.

Overall Mallu Singh never goes above the average mark. I would have given 2.5 for Mallu Singh, but an expression less hero takes away 0.5 from the grade. I am going out with 2/5 for Vysakh’s Mallu Singh.