Nunakkuzhi and Vaazha were two hit films that were released last year on August 15th. While Nunakkuzhi was a comedy with a complex plot of confusion and chaos, Vaazha became a success with a lot of hilarious elements that had relatability attached to it. I am talking about these two films in my review of the new Basil Joseph starrer Maranamass because, in terms of packaging, it felt like a smart blend of what Nunakkuzhi and Vaazha offered – an intricate plot with multiple tracks and a lot of humor elements that are on the relatable zone. With situational humor elevating the fun and complex premise, Maranamass is an entertainer with no low moments.
So, there is a serial killer out there who is on a mission to kill old men, and the reason has to do with the death of the serial killer’s father. Our hero, Luke, is an internet celebrity and the people of his village hate him, and they are planning to send him to Czechoslovakia. Things took a different turn when Luke’s love interest, who broke up with him, had to go through a traumatic experience inside a bus while she was returning home. What was that experience and how that night changed the lives of a lot of people is what we see in Maranamass.
Actor Siju Sunny, who has written the story and co-written the screenplay of this movie, is someone who came to fame with his own mini skits on social media. The kind of irreverent pop-culture humor in those contents was definitely fun to watch. What is surprisingly good about Maranamass is that it is not a story that just stuffs comedy in an extremely basic story. And it is not even a movie that is about any particular character. In fact, the most integral character of the story is the antagonist. The idea here is to spoof a lot of genres, existing stereotypes in society, and even certain worn-out cinematic tropes, and director Sivaprasad and writer Siju Sunny are pretty aware of all these, something rare within the industry.
The performances and the matching energy of all the actors are definitely key elements in the case of Maranamass. But the foundation here is laid by the writing that constructs a screenplay with almost no waste scenes. The pre-wedding photoshoot thing we see in this movie could have been a pointless comedy added just for the sake of making fun of the trend. But Siju and Sivaprasad have another payoff planned with those characters. If you look at the writing of some of the comedy classics in Malayalam, one can see that a lot of the success has to do with the effective usage of its character pool, and Maranamass does a fairly solid job of giving significant space to each of the characters.
With colored hair and the perfect attitude of a spoofy toxic influencer, Basil Joseph shines as Luke, and it was actually a character that sort of gave him an opportunity to show various shades of that character, which again increased the fun quotient. Rajesh Madhavan, with that thick mustache, was hilarious as the gentle serial killer Sreekumar, aka SK. His transformations are pretty funny and effective. Siju Sunny, who usually gets these sidekick characters with a loud pitch, opts for this calm and sentimental character named Aruvi in the movie, and he is good at it. Anishma finally gets a character that kind of has multiple shades. Her other films, like Poovan and I am Kaathalan, had her character in a pretty usual space, but here, as the character is Luke’s Pookie, there are these fun sides to that character, and she handled it neatly. Convincing star Suresh Krishna is playing a bus driver named Jikku, and the odd choice of casting him, itself was hilarious. Sivaprasad and Siju have used Suresh Krishna’s filmography smartly to create fun moments in the movie.
Because of the continuous laughter it offers, there is a possibility that we kind of overlook the engaging script of this movie. And credit needs to be given to director Sivaprasad for having control over improvisation and knowing when to stop. For example, in both Bazooka and Maranamass, actor Joemon Jyothir has done small roles for the sake of humor. While Deeno Dennis made Joemon’s character an annoyance, Sivaprasad was able to show the best he delivered. With almost every character having a significant space and role in the development of the story, Maranamass is a well-written comedy.
With almost every character having a significant space and role in the development of the story, Maranamass is a well-written comedy.
Green: Recommended Content
Orange: The In-Between Ones
Red: Not Recommended
