There is no denying in the fact that the new PT Kunju Muhammed movie Viswasapoorvam Mansoor has many political statements of contemporary relevance. But ultimately this is a movie that needs to be communicated and in that aspect this extremely melodramatic story is a torture for the viewer. Treated as a love story in the majority of its run time, Viswasapoorvam Mansoor fails to convey at least one political statement sincerely.
Mansoor is the only son of Fathibi who belongs to a very famous progressive Muslim family. He is a left liberal who is now planning to make a movie about certain historical events. During this time, a mother and daughter arrive at his home asking for shelter and they were a distant relative of Mansoor. How the arrival of this mother and daughter changes the life of Mansoor is what Viswasapoorvam Mansoor talking about.
Like I said in the beginning, the film is largely a love story that tries to shed light on certain political changes that has happened in our country during the past few years. So if the intention was to make us feel for the characters struggling due to these issues, their relationship should have been depicted in a convincing way. Mansoor and Mumtaz are falling in love without getting to know each other completely. It is when Mansoor says all those cheesy dialogues like Mumtaz is an inspiration, he is madly in love with her etc., you sort of feel like “when did that happen?”. The pace with which the movie is narrated and the amount of events PT has tried to squeeze in causes imbalance. Towards the last half an hour or so the melodrama and politics ruins the movie and you can easily guess what will happen in the next 5-10 minutes. Those interrogation scenes and the performance of those officers would make you giggle.
Roshan Mathew’s performance, the guy we all saw in Anandam is the only thing that I would call as a positive in this film. There is this awkward drama like tone in P T Kunju Muhammed’s writing which kills the feel of scenes. And in my opinion Roshan was the only actor who was able to make it sound natural. I think this guy has a great future as an actor if he chooses wisely. Prayaga Martin sort of impresses you in the beginning, but as the character’s emotional heft increased, she lost the grip. Renji Panicker and Asha Sharath were good. The supporting cast has names like Leona, Santhosh Keezhattur, Serena Wahab, Sreeraman and a few more and they were all just okay for their respective roles.
The sort of drama PT Kunju Muhammad brings in to the table is the main villain here. The terrorist labeling, usage of UAPA, the silence of the left wing and the irresponsible media etc. are the issues that get mentioned here. But all those things gets only a brief space in the last half an hour of the movie and in the rest of the movie all we are seeing is the depiction of a shallow romance. The friendship, the principles and the unspoken love of Mansoor gets revealed in the earlier portions and honestly you won’t feel anything about these character equations. Other than that wedding song, the music had the Ramesh Narayanan touch. The song choreography was really sloppy and the BGMs were also disappointing. M J Radhakrishnan’s frames were fine while the cuts couldn’t build a rhythm.
Viswasapoorvam Mansoor was an extremely tedious experience for me. If having a strong political statement is enough for you to appreciate a film, this one might work for you. But if convincing making and writing is a concern for you, this one will disappoint you for sure.
Rating: 2/5
If convincing making and writing is a concern for you, this one will disappoint you for sure.
Green: Recommended Content
Orange: The In-Between Ones
Red: Not Recommended
