Chanthupottu (2005) : A Controversy

                            Chanthupottu is a Malayalam movie directed by Lal Jose and released in 2005 . It tells the story of Radhakrishn...

Jan 25, 2014

Mannar Mathai Speaking 2 Review by Govind Raj

REVIEW by Govind Raj

I wish we had a cinematic version of the "Muttava", the religious police who would punish cinematic blasphemy with intellectual decapitation.

So what is cinematic blasphemy ?

Ramgopal Verma setting on fire, the ever revered classic Sholay as if it were not a classic movie but some files related to the coal-gate scam.

David Dhawan making the myopic version of the Sai Paranjape classic "Chashme Baddoor" and the people turning a blind eye to this art attack.

Priyadarshan borrowing the venerated Dr. Sunny from Manichitrathazhu and importing him from Machu Pichu, only to make a horrible mishmash of a tragic horror film called "Geethanjali".

And now we have a pretty well intentioned but clueless young director Mamas bringing back Mannar Mathai, 19 years after the ever enjoyable second part of the comedy classic "Ramji Rao Speaking".

It is one thing to bring characters from classics and try to weave a story around them. But it becomes a disaster of epic proportions when one brings caricatures of Malayalam cinema's ever loved characters Mannar Mathai, Gopalakrishnan, Balakrishnan, Garvasis Aashan and co.

Innocent, Mukesh and Sai Kumar are fabulous actors without doubt. But what can they do when there is precious little in the script for them ? Janardhanan and Indrans too suffer the same fate and Shammi Thilakan and Shajon add insult to injury in the form of new ingredients.

But the most offensive insult and injury are reserved for Vijayaraghavan's iconic Ramji Rao who has now become a cartoonish pastor. Aparna Gopinath of ABCD fame comes and goes like a push-pull train on a hartal day. Busy but empty and meaningless.

While trying to establish the characters, the old and some new ones, the first half goes up in smoke thanks to Biju Menon trying to borrow beedi from everyone including the viewers from the front benches.

I have a very faint memory of the second half because I dozed off and was woken up only towards the climax. The most threatening part of the movie was the indication that a possible part-3 with Biju Menon's twin act coming back to haunt us again. More smoke !

Mannar Mathai Speaking - 2 [It should have been 3] is an epic disaster that should never have been made. Seeing Cochin Haneefa on screen again was the only relief. All else is just an extremely loud, sense-less and tasteless buffoonery in the name of comedy.

1.5/5 for the sheer nostalgia attached to the characters and dialogues.

AUTHOR DETAILS :

Name : Govind Raj

Contact via fb : https://www.facebook.com/govindraj70

About me: A Doctor who loves to live, love and laugh with fellow human beings. A chronic Cinema and Cricket addict, blogger, Facebook-maniac and a wannabe writer trying too many things at a time and succeeding to fail in almost everything.

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