“Scripts must not be considered as the backseat element to star value”, says the star of 2007, Sreenivasan.

“A good script is a fundamental element contributing to the success of a film. Instead of giving importance to get better scripts, obsession with star value has reduced the significance of the script in a film”, says the actor who has turned producer with his latest film ‘Katha Parayumpol’.[The scripts must take the front seat- Sreenivasan]

Srinivasan once again proved what an excellent script can do with Katha Parayumbol, one of the best Malayalam movies of 2007. He played the lead role and Mammotty did a guest appearance which made a good impact. All the reviewers agree that even though the story is wafer thin, Srinivasan has done a great job in pulling it of.

With the news that this movie will be remade in Tamil with Pasupathy playing Srinivasan’s role and Rajnikanth playing Mammotty’s role, there are lot of searches for this movie on this site. We have to see if this movie will be murdered like Chandramukhi or will it be able to retain the same spirit.

Unni Nair writes

Sreenivasan, who has done the script and debutante director M. Mohanan deserve to be appreciated for having come up with a film that touches certain chords in our hearts. A simple story narrated in a simple style. Though there is a lag in the first half, the climax saves it all. The film could have been made a bit crisper, but this flaw could be overlooked considering the director is a debutante.
The film is definitely worth a watch, especially for ordinary, ‘non-intellectual’ kind of people who would like to go and see films without intellectual presumptions and towering expectations. A good, touching film, told in a simple manner.

Movie Buzz says

The writer Sreenivasan and his director Mohanan has skillfully caricatured the characters you meet in a remote village- the moneylender and local ‘blade’ Eapacchan Muthalali (Innocent), Das Kattumantha(Salim Kumar), the boring village bard, guy(Mukesh) who runs the local tutorial college, rival hair stylist(Jagadish) tea shop owner(Mamookoya), self centered local politician who always talks about his connections(Augustine). Sreenivasan has also explored the craze among ordinary people for getting close or seen with a superstar. There is also a message that stars become superstars only because of their script writers who have given them memorable roles. The comedy laced satirical song ‘Vyathyasthanaaya…. tuned by M.Jayachandran is a rocker. P.Sukumaran camera has beautifully etched out the Thodupuzha countryside.

The film with a wafer thin story line works big time due to its climax, which has been worked out very well by Sreenivasan and a riveting performance by Mammootty.

Parashuram writes

The ultimate clincher for this film is its script. Authored by Sreenivasan, it is so layered that every frame has a comment to make about the world and every line of the dialogue on the mores of the society. The craze for celebrities and the problems of leading a principled life are discussed without being preachy or in-your-face.

Mammootty has the dignified presence of a real star and his aura and the mythical persona that surrounds him give a lifelike feel to the character of Ashok Raj.

India Glitz says

The film, skillfully repeats the representative characters, from every layer of the rural villages, (reminiscent of Sathyan films) with which the writer makes a lot of careful observations and clarifications about the phenomenon of super stardom and lives of people living in the lower strata of the society. Mostly represented by local professional actors in these roles, the film also gives an authentic feel with all sorts of storyline surprises and political criticisms in spite of its simple exterior. In the scripts, Sreeni seems to repeat some of his earlier sarcastic attributes like dark skin and heightlessness, but more commendable is that he has easily stretched a wafer thin plot to two hours and ten minutes with out much space for idleness.

Story telling is an art in itself – one that has as its prerequisites three imperative traits; characters with potential, a decisive plot and cautious attention to detail. A good narrator does not use these in isolation; rather he spectacularly weaves them together in a vibrant fabric of creativity and comes up with a mind boggling story in which they are indistinguishable to the rapt audience.

Balan (Sreenivasan) is the local barber at Melukavu, who leads an uneventful and almost passive existence, and except for the occupational haphazards that have been eating into his life, his worries remain minimal. Until Ashok Raj, the reigning superstar, (Mammootty) arrives for a film shoot amidst much aplomb, and the village gets to know of an alleged camaraderie that once existed between these alarmingly dissimilar souls.

Katha Parayumbol is indisputably one of Sreenivasan’s best compositions of late, in that it manages to redeem a few facets of the writer whom we have sorely missed over the years. The writer wages a battle with the actor and comes up trumps; the story that he dares to tell is one that is told with a whole lot of heart, and hence remains absorbing throughout. The benchmarks of the yesteryear Sreeni scripts are for once, discernible yet again; the remarkable simplicity and the witty structuring of affairs, the pleasant laughs on offer and the distinctive illustrations. And they’re conveyed with such conviction that you’ll catch yourself believing every outlandish detail.

Sreenivasan as Balan is apt; yet another extension of his self-hypnotic persona that is fitfully funny in his usual way. He makes the simplest off the cuff lines burst into life, and we find ourselves laughing at observations that might, in the hands of a lesser actor, land with a thud. Mammootty gets to play Santa Claus this Christmas, and wades in fabulously with a climactic surprise. He is bright and blustery and is a revelation, a supreme sweet froth of poise, bravura and unstoppable confidence.

The cultural slice that Sreeni puts up on a salver deserves all the consideration that an impeccable delicacy demands. Beneath the flimsy decorative toppings lie the sturdy pieces of analogies that are playfully arranged along the margins of a society under scrutiny. Every guffaw that it offers is invariably coupled with a moment of introspection, the result of which is as astounding as it is totally fulfilling. Sreeni does something different with Katha Parayumbol; he sets the story as his focal point, the human drama, and the passion of it all. Rather than attempt a colossal sociopolitical declaration based on a notion that does not require to be further examined, he watchfully links his inventive images with a potent exploration of human life and the vital desire to be remembered. The story does succumb to an over dosage of dramatics in the end, but not in a repellent manner. I find the outlook of it all, and the fundamental message of love and family, to be brilliantly elevating, for this is a thoroughly enjoyable, good-natured movie.

Katha Parayumbol is beautiful in the way it looks, but more importantly, it’s beautiful in the way it resonates. It’s a rewarding unique film that is well worth the time it claims for its earnestness and inspirational candor that is vividly brought to life. And above everything else it abundantly displays the calm urgency of a story that so badly wants to be told.

(Crossposted at MovieMazaa)

Sudama was a childhood friend of Krishna, but they lost touch with each other. Sudama remained a poor brahmin and when he went through bad times in his life his wife reminded him of Krishna. Reluctantly Sudama went to meet Krishna and you know what happened. Srinivasan’s version of the story consists of the friendship of a barber and a film actor.

Balan has always been a straightforward kind of guy, who never likes to depend on anyone else to meet his needs. Even when he is in dire straits financially, he doesn’t seek the help of anyone and tries his best to make both ends meet. People always talk good about him and even hold him in high esteem.

In the meantime, there spreads news in the village that Balan is actually a close friend of the popular actor and superstar Ashokraj, who is acting in a film that is going to be shot in the village.

No one knows as to where from this news had originated and who had spread it. But with the news getting spread in the village, Balan becomes sort of a VIP there. Things begin to take a sea change for Balan and his wife. Balan’s wife Sreedevi too boasts much about her husband’s friendship with Ashokraj and all. What all happens then forms the plot of ‘Katha Parayumbol’, in which Sreenivasan becomes Balan and Mammootty becomes Ashokraj.[Katha Parayumbol': Interesting story]

Srinivasan’s staple plot device is a person with inferiority complex and with that element itself many scenes come automatically. There will be references to his skin color and lack of education and there will be many scenes in which he embarrasses others. We are not sure when this inferiority complex syndrome Nagavalli got into Srinivasan, but he has successfully cashed it from the Nadodikaatu trilogy all way till Yes, Your Honor.
While the people behind the movie are veterans, the unknown factor is the talent of the director, Mohanan who is making his debut. Then, he is Srinivasan’s brother-in-law and we hope he would have got proper guidance from the man who directed Thalathil Dineshan of Vadakkunokkiyantram and Vijayan Mashu of Chinthavishtayaya Shyamala.

In this movie, co-produced by Mukesh and Srinivasan, Mammotty plays the character without the inferiority complex. Srinivasan, one of the talented writers of Malayalam comedy, has written entertaining movies like Azhakiya Ravanan and Maravathoor Kanavu with Mammotty in the lead role, but then no one was impressed with Bhargavacharitham Moonnam Khandam. So, when it comes to this movie, it is like trying to predict the outcome of a Jayaraj movie; it could be either very good or watchable, but one thing for sure is that the comedy will have some minimum standards.

(image via indiaglitz.com)

Dear Ranjith,

You were an impressive film maker. You wrote that wonderful comedy called Peruvannapurathe Viseshangal, and also that classic called Devasuram. You directed Nandanam, which was so different, but a great movie as well. So when we watched Chandrolsavam, we were hoping for something different and exciting, but instead you gave us a rehash of all possible Mohanlal movies. Why?

The opening of the movie was excellent. When Indu’s (Meena) marriage is arranged with someone else, her lover Srihari (Mohanlal) does not create a ruckus, but instead stays far away, drunk. As the marriage procession moves through a paddy field, the groom is attacked by a gooda Peethambaran (Bheeman Raghu). When Srihari saves the groom from death, Peethambaran shouts in front of everyone that Srihari had paid him to murder the groom.

Indu is shocked, so is Srihari and so are we. We were curious at this point to know the back story of this incident and why Srihari would do it. We were also curious on who was the guy who actually paid Peethambaran do it, if Srihari was not the one behind it. But then you decided to ditch all efforts in creativity and show us various sequences from various Mohanlal and non-Mohanlal movies.

After serving a jail sentence of one year, Srihari leaves to Delhi, Paris etc and after 6 years, he lands back in the same village, with a new look. Remember the scene when Mohanlal first lands in Manichitrathazhu and gives a big lecture on how he got the message. Similarly when he lands in this movies he gives a similar dialogue to the caretaker of his house, novelist KR (Jagadeesh).

Soon he is joined by his friends which includes Sriraman, Augustine, Cochin Haneefa and other. They drink, play cards and make merry and you are reminded of various movies like Devasuram, and Aaram Thampuran. Very soon the villain of the movie is introduced and he is Ramanunni (Ranjith), a childhood friend of Srihari. It seems Ramanunni too had a liking for Indu and hence he had planned all this.

Now that the hero, villain and the motive were established and it was only 30 minutes into the film, we thought what the heck is Mohanlal going to do for the next two hours. So you decided to drag the film endlessly. Of course, in such films where Mohanlal returns from exile, he will be a master musician after having learned under various Khan’s (not including Shah Rukh Khan) and Ustads. Here too he is an expert in music and his teacher is none other than Dakshinamoorthy. So that was one track.

In another track, Srihari goes on a revenge mode and tracks down Peethambaran and beats him to pulp in a Narasimham mode. He uses the power and influence of his friends to get things done and we thought, this is so simple and the movie will end now and there is one more hour remaining. So you introduced Dr. Durga (Khushboo) as a mysterious friend and later reveal that Srihari has cancer like what happened in Noketthadoorathu Kannum Nattu. At this point our eyes were popping out. Oh C’mon. You could do better than that.

Meanwhile Ramanunni kills Indu’s husband and she moves with Srihari. Srihari goes and finds his father’s girl friend and asks her to come as his mother. You did not add scenes from Rajavinte Makan and Srikrishna Parunthu here and we are thankful for it. All these wastage of time happens just for the final predictable encounter with Ramanunni which happens as Ramanunni kidnaps Indu. (That was quite new and refreshing).

Please don’t think we did not understand what you were trying to do. The main point of the movie is that as Srihari gets his ex-girlfriend, father’s ex-girlfriend and friends and as he sees life coming long, he realizes that he is about to lose all of it. He does not want to lose it and there is a brilliant conversation with his guru, Dakshinamurthy about it. But for such a nice theme, the way you chose to narrate it was beyond belief. If the entire Kerala population had not watched any Mohanlal movie so far, this movie would have a refreshing feel to it, but you just served us the same avial again and again without even bothering to clean the banana leaf. In the movie, Srihari keeps on reminding others about cliched scenes and it is such an irony that such a dialogue appears in this very cliched movie.

Some scenes are brilliant. We liked your philosophical conversation about rebirth. We also liked the way Srihari handled the police officer who came to investigate the murder and also how he dealt with Sai Kumar’s character. But then there is nothing new in those. We are just trying to be polite here. This is a role Mohanlal has done in countless films before and there is absolutely nothing new for him to do. The same goes with rest of the cast as well.

Like most of your movies, the songs were absolutely divine and it is hard to pick a favorite. But except for one song which showed Mohanlal in present and his childhood romance with Indu in the background, which by the way was a very creative way to visualize, the others were not even necessary in the movie.

You are capable of much better than this. Freshness in movies comes from new dialogue, new situations and new treatment. By repeating scenes and situations from previous movies, you have let us down big time. We will be eagerly waiting for your next movie and hope you won’t disappoint us.

Regards,

Editors
varnachitram.com