We saw a movie which was made for less than 3.5 crore the other day called Romeo. It was directed by one of our favorite directors, Rajasenan, starring one of our favourite comedy actors, Dileep and written by the successful duo, Rafi-Mecartin.

In this movie Dileep plays Manu Krishnan, a male nurse. That itself is supposed to be comedy. He is on edee, podeee terms with Vimala Raman, a doctor so pretty that you won’t mind staying in a hospital forever. Vimala has a thing for him, but he does not have a thing for her. His thing is for Samvrita Sunil, a candidate on a reality show.

So far so good. Manu’s mother, played by Prithviraj’s real life mother, is a judge on the reality show. Manu’s father, played by Cochin Haneefa, then borrows money from Samvritha’s father played by Bheeman Raghu as a bribe for making Samvritha the winner. Few complications arise, such as Bheeman Raghu wanting to kill Dileep etc, resulting in Dileep ending up in an agraharam looking after a mentallyilla Risabawa. There is a subtle statement here that the characters we met so far were mentally stable.

There is a girl in the agraharam who falls in love with Dileep. But there is another guy, played by Asokan, who is in love with the agraharam girl. Then there is some multiple identity issues as well, with Dileep taking on names of other people. I should re-write that sentence. But what for?

At the end guess where they all end up? In an Ayurvedic resort. We don’t know why this venue was chosen as any place would have been apt – from ISRO to Oolanpara. With that said, then all of them sit on your brain and take it out neuron by neuron that your whole body becomes a phantom limb.

So what happened to the guy who directed Ayalathe Addeham and Melepparambil Aanveedu? What happened to the guys who wrote Punjabi House? What happened to the actor who made us laugh in Meesha Madhavan and Chanthupottu?

Forget the inane story. Forget the casting. Forget the direction. Just look the the characters. The writers are not sure if Bheeman Raghu should be a villain or a comedian or both. It is OK to have a villain who is part comedian, but this falls flat.

The reason it falls flat is because there are others competing for the confused character award. The ayurvedic resort is run by Vimala Raman’s father, who is serious one moment, beating up people the othermoment and trying to act funny some other times. Looks like each minute of script was written by a different person.

There is another irritating thing. Making faces. There are too many reaction shots of people frowning, expressing shock etc. Remember how the camera used to capture the expressions of various characters in the TV serial Mahabharata when one of the cast members made a profound statement. Rajasenan sticks to that level of maturity with the difference that Mahabharata was absorbing even with all the deficiencies in film making.

At the end of it one can’t help but feel sorry for Dileep. Such movies are his forte and Rajasenan/Rafi-Mecartin have an established track record.

But Rajasenan has been on a decline for sometime. He made one terrible movie called Immini Nalloral and this one seems to be in the same genre. Since Rajasenan always has been a less than 3.5 crore guy, we hope he spends more time with the script when he ventures out next time.

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Sify call the movie a travesty:

Rafi and Mecartin have delivered a dud with Love in Singapore. The title itself is a misnomer as there is no love in the film! It is unbearable and hackneyed and very difficult to sit through this travesty.

It is obvious that Mammootty has not read the script, as there was no such a thing. There is not even a basic one-line story in the film! The directors known for their humorous comedies has made Mammootty, Salim Kumar, Nedumudi Venu and Sooraj Venjaranmoodu (He is intolerable) to do some mimicry, as the audiences in the theatre hooted in disgust.

NowRunning.com didn’t find any love in Love in Singapore:

This is a rare category of a movie, that could perhaps be termed a bleak comedy. It is hardly stenciled as a story, the romance never gains a head or a heart and the dénouement is far from involving. It’s a bit too light and frivolous and never really precise either.

If there’s something or rather someone here that should allure you at all, it’s none other than Mammootty. The man is pure wine that simply gets better with age and if one manages to drive through this dissonance without getting hurt, it’s thanks to him. The charming actor looks quite suave and elegant and lavishly flaunts his magnetic appeal.

Supposedly a laugh-a-minute rib tickler that should have split your sides, Love in Singapore turns out to be a tragic debacle that doesn’t even have a clue as to what it needs to deliver. How low the mighty have fallen!

Rediff asks us to avoid Love in Singapore:

Mammootty has touched a new low as far as his selection of roles is concerned in Rafi-Mecartin’s latest Malayalam film Love in Singapore. Here he plays a a rags to riches scrap dealer Machu.

So, how does the plot unfold? Our man Machu, who started out as a rag picker, makes it big. He lives in a posh house in a posh locality and drives a fancy SUV. He desires to marry a beautiful girl, the ones you see in soap and talcum powder commercials (sic)! To fulfill his dream, he follows the advice of a neighbourhood business consultant Pereira (Nedumudi Venu), who suggests that he invest his earnings in stocks.

In our preview, we wrote that Rafi-Mecartin and Rajasenan have just one trick up their sleeves and they repeat it again and again. According to the reviewers, this time it is no different. It is the same comedy routine repeated ad infinitum. One of our regulars, Jibs, had noted that if Dileep did not change his tactics, he might go the Jayaram way and that is exactly what Rediff’s reviewer too had to say.

Unni Nair writes

< The plot seems good and interesting coming as it does from Rajasenan, but post-interval things seem to go out of control and even seem to be boring at places. Dileep is OK as Manu, but there is nothing outstanding about his performance or character. Vimala as Priya is passable, but at places she seems to be rather uncomfortable with the role. Samvritha as Leena is good while new girl Shruthi doesn't impress much as Bhama
The film moves at a brisk pace in the first half especially as the emphasis is mostly on verbal comedy, but post interval the pace slows down and some of the scenes seem to lack freshness and appeal. The songs though in tune with the theme and mood, are ordinary and won’t stay in our memories for long. Nambiathiri’s camerawork is good and so is Raja Mohamed’s editing. The film is an average comic entertainer, and not a terribly bad one at that. But judging by the response inside the theatres on day one, it is to be seen whether the film does good business or not.

Moviebuzz writes

Rafi and Mecartin loves the Priyadarsan type of comedies where bus load of characters, some of them with mistaken identities, others with their own comic agenda meet in the climax and its total bedlam. Once more the “mad, mad, mad world formula” has been beaten to death. There is no original bone in the story or narration, everybody does their comic act and provide their quota of laughs and disappears.
Dileep, Haneefa, Sooraj, Salim Kumar, Bheeman Reghu (comic villain), Riza Bava, Asokhan, Malika Sukumaran (a new addition to the laugh brigade) does their roles competently and proves again that they have terrific comedy timing, while the girls Vimala, Samvrutha and Sruthilakshmi looks good.

Paresh Palicha, for a change has some analysis

The screenplay has everything that you can imagine in the slapstick films of a bygone era. There are impersonations, mistaken identities and what have you.

The first half works with ‘a laugh a minute’ situations. But this gets too much in the second half. It would have worked if the gung-ho spirit was maintained throughout the duration of the film. Somehow we get a feeling that the writer(s)-director team were clueless about how to get out of the quagmire they found themselves in.

Dileep seems to be control in the beginning as the role of Manu is tailor made for him. But this does not last long as the film proceeds. Known as a poor man’s Mohanlal when he started doing roles like this, the actor, of late seems to have lost some sheen in executing them. He had better rediscover himself soon or his career will go Jayaram’s way.

(Image via NowRunning.com)

Finally in December a new Dileep movie is going to be released. This time he has not chosen any auspicious day like Bakrid or Christmas but a rather uneventful day like Dec 14. Remember that scene in Lagaan where the villagers dance around seeing the rain clouds (Ghanana Ghanana song); for Dileep fans it is such a moment when they eagerly await the release of Romeo. With this movie, Dileep returns to his strengths – mimicry, oops, we mean comedy. In the movie he plays Manu, a male home nurse who romances Vimala Raman and Samvritha Sunil at the same time.

The script writers Rafi-Mercartin know one story, which is basically mixup of people and circumstances and they have mixed it very well in movies like Thenkasi Pattanam and Punjabi House. Then there is their guru Rajasenan who basically knows to make one type of movie. When all these single act ponies get together for a movie, the resulting story line can be predicted. Then after watching movies like Alibhai, Paradesi and Rock’n'Roll everyone could use a little laugh, even if it is the predictable one.

Reviewers have given verdict that Hello is a fun film, with Mohanlal performance matching his yesteryears best. All the reviews complain about lacklustre Second half, but overall it seems that movie is worth watching.

Rediff.com reviews:

The film belongs to Mohanlal; it is his breezy performance as the semi-conscious drunkard with some witty dialogues thrown in that never gives us a dull moment in the first half. He gets ample support from Jagathy Sreekumar, his friend with a limp in one leg.

The second half is a bit of a letdown as it gives soap-opera-ish feel with stock characters — Salim Kumar handles the comic track, Siddique (with a bald pate and menacing clean-shaven look), Risa Bawa and Shaiju Kurup as the villainous trio, and Madhu, the wise patriarch.

Sify.com comments:

Rafi Mecartin has taken bits and shreds from various sources to stitch together this 2 hour 22 minutes of fun and entertainment. The duo has borrowed the plot of David Ellis’s Cellular (2004) and mixed it well with their own Punjabi House, Tenkasi Pattanam and scenes from various Bollywood films to come out with this comedy mixture. There is nothing new in the film or presentation, as the second half drags after a racy first half. The murder mystery is solved by the hero in a long drawn out dialogue drama instead of presenting it in a visually appealing and logical way of investigation.

These are but minor warts in a film, which is thoroughly enjoyable due to its star cast of actors who have great comedy timing- Mohanlal, Jagathy, Salim Kumar and the new guy Sooraj Venjaranmoodu. Their bickering and bonding makes it a scream. Is there a better actor in Indian Cinema who can play a comic drunkard as good as Mohanlal? Clearly he is at home playing this type of character and the film is unthinkable without him. A tall, svelte Parvathy Melton looks fresh and charming. The comedy tracks of Jagathy, Salim Kumar are funny.

IndiaGlitz.com says:

The film which flows into two and a half hours belongs to Mohanlal, the one man entertainment troupe, who shoulders the weight of the heavy twists in the plots, all by himself. He is thoroughly adorable and endlessly endears himself with his sensitivity and comic timing and easy-going camaraderie with Jagathy Sree Kumar his friend with a limp in one leg.

Adds color and vitality to the film, the performances from the entire cast is commendable. Debutante Parvathy Milton has proven that she is not just a pretty face and impress particularly with her dancing skills. Siddhique with his more than menacing looks and Suraj as an S I do their roles effectively while Risa Bawa, Shaiju Kurup, Madhu Warrier, Janardhanan and Ganeshkumar are in their usual self.

The second half is a bit of a letdown and drags in and around stock characters — The film often defies logic in their story lines, but who cares for logic in such a racy comedy. The murder mystery is solved by the hero in a long drawn out dialogue drama in the end reminding you of a similar longer sequence line.