Mindiyum Paranjum from Arun Bose is an attempt to create a conversational romantic story between a relatively newlywed couple. Co-written by Mridul George, who co-wrote Arun’s debut film Luca, the concept they want to crack is something that looks interesting on paper. However, this adaptation of O. Henry’s “The Gift of the Magi” is unable to create something that feels enticing. The narrative that shuttles between the past and present of the couple wants to show the evolution in the relationship dynamic. But barring a few moments of lively give and take between the lead pair, Mindiyum Paranjum is mostly in that wannabe zone and ends up being a missed opportunity.
Sanal and Leena are the main characters of the story. They are married, and Sanal is now doing business in the Middle East. During one monsoon season, Sanal decides to pay a quick visit to his home. What we see here is Sanal’s journey as the couple reminisces about their eventful love life over multiple phone calls during that drive.
The O Henry short story adaptation angle is actually helping this movie only in having a closure. The challenge in writing here is to give the audience something to keep them excited in knowing more about this couple. And that is precisely where the problem lies. One can argue that real life is often generic. However, the beauty of filmmaking is in making those familiar stories cinematically appealing. Arun Bose wants the movie to feel like a relatable story for those who opted for a love marriage path in Kerala. While a few of the dialogues have that warmth, the writing in terms of ordering the events is unable to create the charm and joy of seeing an organic romance.
The film was completed back in 2022, and looking at the minimal project design, I assume this was one of those tiny projects set up during the OTT boom era. This concept of switching between two phases in the life of two individuals is interesting. By throwing in elements like unexpected heavy rains and the objection of the girl’s family in parallel, Mridul and Arun try to create some drama in the story. However, the flat nature of the execution of those moments makes them lifeless and pointless in the flow of the movie. The intention may well be to make things look relatable on screen. But every moment and every character in Mindiyum Paranjum just feel generic.
Barring the flaws in his Malayalam diction, which we are used to now, Unni Mukundan’s performance is fine in this movie. The lover boy/ husband character is not challenging him in any manner, as we see the character mostly in that pleasant zone. Aparna Balamurali as Leena is perhaps the one who has the better character in terms of material. She is taking an effort to make the two phases of the character feel different on screen through performance. And I think it is her style of rendering those lines that is making the humor work in many of the romantic conversations. Other than these two, we have Jaffer Idukki, Maala Parvathi, Jude Anthany Joseph, RJ Murugan, etc., in important yet minimal roles.
There were many hastily set-up small-budget projects that happened in Malayalam during 2021-2022 in order to take advantage of the lucrative OTT deals. The good thing about Mindiyum Paranjum is that it doesn’t fall under the category of those scam movies. This film intends to explore the relationship and chemistry of a long-distance relationship through conversations. However, because of the uninspiring staging, it fails to show the warmth of romance it set out to create.
