Malaikottai Vaaliban

Soundscape was impressive with it's subduedness. Rustic dated instruments.

Movie is designed as a fable tale, aligned with the subject. Lot of care has gone into all the technical aspects to bring in visual and sound frames that capture the canvas of the movie.

Unfortunately, the subtitles spoiled some of it. Tasteless bland font did blemish all the care that went into the costumes, art design, landscape, language, sound work.

Mohanlal has done excellent action work for his age. Action is very artistically done - blending in story telling, sound design, costumes, action choreography, art design.

Mohanlal has sung couple of songs which he should not have done. His singing does not suit the ambience of the movie. Too timid for the all powerful protagonist.

The story line had fable-like quality to it, and reminded me of Aitihyamala stories. There were a few dragging spots in the script. Build up for the second part was good but also felt a little made up.

Cinematography and lighting work has been excellent. There was a painting like quality to the frames as opposed to the overly stylish and loud style that is typical. Same holds for the background scores. Careful thought out work.

The movie excelled in many aspects. Subtitles was the one thing that disappointed. There were spots where subtitles showed but dialogue did not come out. Now that is a mistake. I would have stylized the font to match the canvas.

The language use in the songs and dialogues have been kept folk like, and unembellished.

Not a movie for everyone. There is enough art to appreciate here.

Malaikottai Vaaliban follows Vaaliban(Mohanlal) and his group of mercenaries/warriors who fight other warriors in different villages and who never loses a fight. Lijo Jose Pellissey takes his own time to establish Vaaliban as a charismatic warrior with his lengthy scenes and long shots embellished with a subdued background music. The framing, the music and the theme reminds the westerners of yore. Vaaliban ends up at his native village where he fights off the Portuguese ruler who enslaves the local people. The story moves at brisk pace from here on exploring various genres with some unexpected twists, albeit uninteresting, and culminates at an inconclusive juncture.

Lijo Jose Pellissery's obsession with static frames is evident here. The movie plays out like a theater play with long pauses between scenes and overly melodramatic dialogue. The choice of instruments used to provide the background score elevates this feeling which you may love or hate depending on your mood. The movie feels like it overstayed its welcome after a certain point.

Mohanlal as Vaaliban shines with his ever-expressive eyes and flawless portrayal of an arrogant mercenary. Harish Peradi gets an important and meaty role as Vaaliban's mentor which he portrays with finesse. The true star of the movie is the cinematographer Madhu Neelakandan who captivates the audiences with his immersive frames and color. You rarely say that camera work is the main highlight of a movie, and this is one of those.

But in the end, as the saying goes, even the best technicians cannot save a movie with barely any story to hold on to.

A well shot movie. A beautiful, picturesque folklore with philosophical underlying if you linger a bit longer on it... Each frame looks like a painting so fresh from the canvas. The score too takes a high with ethnic tunes and instruments. Especially the bgm during a major fight scene was so novel and enjoyable. All the actors have done justice to their characters. Mohanlal's age defying stunts are to look out for. His reactions to certain situations remind us why he is called the 'complete actor'. The antagonist played by Danish Sait is fantastic. This movie is a visual treat. Technically brilliant! Do remember that it is an LJP movie. You'll love it if you love cinema.

This film takes its time to settle in due to its normal pacing and drags around a bit after interval. But thats ok since they went into the classic story telling routes of the 70s. Vaaliban has Mohanlal in a strongman avatar which he convinces with ease. The fights are unique so is the brilliant score from prashant pillai. Great cinematohraphy from madhu neelakantan. It was a treat to watch on the big screen. A different but surely watchable flick from the director. All casts are fantastic with lal, hareesh and danish sait doing the major performances. This may not a usual watch so be warned as its quite different kind of genre... To be precise.. Its genre less as said by the director.

What If Quentin Tarantino made an Indian movie ? Yes. That's exactly what "Malaikottai Valiban" is on screen.

Brilliantly woven piece, the movie begins where you think it ends. The amazing plot twist will keep you in edge of the seat. LJP's story telling is always unique, the Malaikottai Valiban is like a video game, where you finish one lever after other each one more daunting than the previous and at the end one final big mission which looks impossible with an absolute plot twist.

The movie is filled with wide angle shots and landscapes, Madhu Neelakandan's cinematography is really brilliant. I loved it personally.

It's not a movie for Mohan Lal's fan, it won't have extravagant intro, it's a movie made according to what the story really wants and that makes the movie absolutely a masterpiece.

Danish Sait will bag multiple awards for his role for sure, and I have no doubt it. You can see a director's real talent when you see Danish acting in this movie.

Overall this movie is an art of Indian cinema, LJP has done it again.