joseph james

As expected Sreeni-Sathyan duo coming together after a hiatus of sixteen years does not disappoint. The first half sparkles with their matchless satirical brilliance. It's amazing how Sreeni can extract humour out of the most innocuous of lines where most others would find none. Sreeni hasn't lost his touch as a humorist or satirist. He can hit hard without hurting. The cast is superb. Hats off to Fahad for keeping up the glorious tradition of the Anthikad heroes. He is a leaner and meaner Mohan Lal with a scowl. Amazingly his deadpan expression is a fitting substitute for the impish smile of Maohan All. Nikita negotiates her character with elan. Andusree can now relax as the ironing shops have found a new patron. The Achilles heel of an otherwise brilliantly executed movie is the second half which is a huge letdown after the brilliance of the first half. In fact the two halves are two separate movies - one a hilarious comedy and the other an artificially contrived tearjerker tenuously held together by Fahad and Sreeni himself. The natural flow of an Anthikad movie is not at all visible in the second half. The abrupt transformation of a delightfully wicked villain into an altruistic saint stretches credibility too far. All said and done, it is a paisa vasool movie. As ever Satyan-Sreeni sparkles with music which finely blends old time melody with new gen tempo. The Bengali harvest song is a coupe d'etat. The Malayali learning transplantation technique from the Bengali is irony at its best. The initial narration needn't have been in Sreeni's voice which has been tellingly affected by senility. For all its flaw, I have no doubt that it will not fail to light up the Malayalam hearts wherever they are. Here's s a sincere wish that their association might go from strength to strength in the years ahead.