Attack of the clones on Malayalam cinema viewers have started. As per the reviews Madambi is rehashed version of so many ‘Sacrificing elder Brother’ themed movies which have graced the screen in the past. It is as if every director has to do this theme at least once. Now we will wait for few more days to see if M.Padmakumar is daring to be different in the other clone, Parinthu. Mohanlal lost this round even before Parinthu is released by the virtue of being part of a movie which is repackaged garbage.
Madambi is a celluloid saga that falls squarely into the replication category. Rehashing is the keyword in it, and as every moment, event and character is redone and fixed up in fresh slots, credibility takes the back seat to sentimentality.
There are just a few odd occasions when the story deviates from the conventional, and then you dearly wish it hadn’t. For, then it turns into an inconceivably dim-witted state of affairs that lacks sensitivity. Back in the time-honored mould, its smooth sailing once again, albeit a yawn inducing one. There are only delusions of grandeur in this otherwise cut-and-dried film that’s totally harmless. As much as it is inoffensive, it’s mediocre, typical and quite common place.
Almost everything in Madambi is reminiscent of something or someone you have seen before. What’s upsetting about it, more than its ordinariness is its staunch adherence to a cinematic tradition that’s fast losing out on its very rationale.
The film is built on simple bits of screen writing fluff and is made to appeal to the highly susceptible audiences. The basic story is as old as the hills, and etched from various movies of the past- Balettan, Vesham, Vatsalyam and a few Tamil village movies of Vijaykanth and Sathyaraj!The first half is rollicking fun, that will keep you hooked but in the second half it turns out to be an emotional tear jerker, with a contrived and easily predictable climax. The secondary cast of actors in the film like Jagathy, Innocent, Siddique, Biju Pappan (the ham-handed cop), Gopakumar, Narayan Nair, K.P.A.C Lalitha, Sriraman and others are all caricatures we have seen before in many films and they look like a bunch of ciphers.
There is no novelty in the film’s plot or the narrative technique. Still, Mohanlal’s character has some substance in it.
Gopalakrishnan (Mohanlal) is a money-lender in a village. People misunderstand him to be money-minded, without having any emotional bond even towards his mother or younger brother Ramakrishnan (Ajmal). There are other story elements that are typical to Mohanlal films like the enemies in the form of a feudal family, as well as people, who know he is a do-gooder.
As the story moves along, we learn more about our hero. He is hard-hearted, as he was thrown out his father when he was a teenager for his wayward lifestyle. His mother hates him for doing that and his brother hates him because he does not let his brother pursue his dream of being an actor.
On this day..
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22 Responses to “Review Roundup: Madambi”
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The above given “IndiaGlitz reviews:” is not review. Its a ” Preview”. Please check the weblink given below:
“http://www.indiaglitz.com/channels/malayalam/preview/9823.html”.
Cheers.
Hareesh, thanks for pointing out the mistake.
Madambi is a replication category.But its a good attempt for director and writer.technically is not good.good performance by mohanlal and kpac lalitha.some of the dailogues are super both comedy and punch.conclusion is its a good entertainment ok but its not very good or not a bad.its an average film.
http://in.rediff.com/movies/2008/jul/07ssm.htm
Rediff is positive and so did Sify overall. Might be a money earner - a relief for the suffering industry atleast..
I pity ur reviews.You should atleast give some positive reviews which came.It seems u r blind towards lals films
I dont understand what the Sify review is all about. It is full of negatives and then goes on to call it Paisa Vasool. The reviewer did the same with ICV as well.
The review content has no relation to the final verdict!
madambi according to a sify is superhit. reports are it is more than an average movie. And has provided the much needed lifeline for Lal who had a torrid time with flops in Alibai, Flash, College Kumaran etc.
Madambi, as has been rightly pointed out is just a routine, run of the mill story that’s literally frustrating in the second half.
At best it can be considered a duplicated average.
@Vinay
Sify even predicted that Innathe Chinthavishayam would overtake Annan Thambi collections in the long run. So much for its screaming headlines.
Valsalyam + Velyettan + Balettan + Vesham + mix of other old family dramas = Madambi
Madambi is just a Media hit. Good that there are still some blind lal fans to savour these rehashed craps.
@Geojith
Exactly! Its pathetic to see even that role of the younger brother’s wife - the one who identifies with the elder brother for the umpteenth time. Gopika did it well in Vesham, Mallika-whatever makes even that stereotype look like a character from outer space.
Lalettan’s tongue-in-cheek dialogue against Parunthu is just the start of things to come. I wouldnt be surprised if star crazy fans battle it out over idiotic dialogues as these in the theatres from now on.
Malayalam movie makers over the years have successfully brought down viewer expectations. Now if a movie is not as bad as Flash, Hallo, Alibhai, College Kumaran etc. it is considered good, however mediocre that is. So medicority is the new greatness since real greatness has flown out of the window.
@Jibs..you said the truth..WELL DONE.
what was kavya doing in this movie?I thought she was gonna get a real challenging role .. i read somewhere that even a junior actress could do that.
I’m waiting for a good perfomance from her to compare with my fav actress.
i havent seen madambi. from what i heard from others who are not lal fans, while the movie is rehash of the above said movies, its watchable and the songs are hummable - especially the shankar mahadevan song.
what cannot be disputed is that madambi has given a much needed lifeline for lal after his recent flops.
yes viewer expectations and tastes have come down else how do you see hallo or annan thambi as hit.?
“Lalettan’s tongue-in-cheek dialogue against Parunthu is just the start of things to come. I wouldnt be surprised if star crazy fans battle it out over idiotic dialogues as these in the theatres from now on. ” - No I dont think so, these people have been together in the industry for some 30 years and are far too mature to create a rift. Did you watch Harikrishnans? Both of them have poked fun at each other.
“these people have been together in the industry for some 30 years and are far too mature to create a rift.”
Exactly!! Its not the stars, but the fans who are the idiots. You should have seen the crowd reaction while that dialogue was uttered on screen. They were going totally berserk.
And I believe these stars should altleast have the maturity not to utter such crap, and drive an unsuspecting, and at times moronic crowd into a negative frenzy.
It would be no use saying that they didnt intend anything to happen, after two factions have battled it out in a theatre.
Talking about fans, check out the review of Madambi in Mathrubhumi http://movies.mathrubhumi.com/story.php?id=14306&cat=6&sub=22&subit=0
and the fans reaction to the review
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xyhcUSHshJE
I found both of these equally funny!
WARNING: The review contains spoilers*
Madambi is a waste movie.Its good only for mad lal fans
On what basis has the reviewer/idiotor furnished that the movie
is a flop and finished before Parunthu release.
Shows his tilt or bias.
Either provide a summary of the reviews and then derive a conclusion. Not just copy a few paragraphs
from other reviews and there and provide a final verdict.
Flop on what factors ? Theatre statistics or reviewers impression.
Agreed it could be a rehash , but entertaining from what I understand.
Dont spoil the respect of varnachitram
I am also a fan of lal , but this madambi …….. its so boaring…..nothing different from my dearest lalettan….
I am not a huge fan of Mohanlal of the last decade. (I think his last best were Iruvar and Vanaprastham) But VC clearly seems to have a bias against Mohanlal. I think this is clearly unfounded.
His acting in Madambi may not be that great, or rather he doesnt have scope for acting. But clearly its an entertainer wherease Parinthu is getting poor review from all.
“Mohanlal lost this round even before Parinthu is released” is surely VC’s lowest point as I know.
Lets not have bias here in otherwise good website.
Madambi is a super movie. Worth of watching twice to listen the sentimental scens and dialogues and the powerful performance by mohanlal.
I happened to watch Madampi this weekend. Its a good entertainer with Lal predictably doing well. The songs are also quite good. Lal seems to have learnt from his mistakes in Alibai, Flash, College Kumaran etc. There are no romantic scenes with Kavya and there are no superman scenes. Add it to loads of sentiments. It is a formula movie but you can watch it without getting bored. And yes it is running to packed houses. and according to sify a superhit.