Ennum Eppozhum

Sathyan Anthikad is the man. Some of his classics of the 80s and 90s are THE greatest Malayalam movies of all time and his Nadodikattu (1989) is my favorite Malayalam film of all time. Although he lost the old satiric perspective of things, he had entered the new millennium with a fair amount of average films. But his latest venture with some second-rate writers is far from appealing. It is a disaster.

Starting from the beginning, Ennum Eppozhum invites trouble. At a time when people want to directly dive into the film to relax after a day's work, here we have the credits appearing like it's a presentation. After at least seven minutes, the film begins with an off-putting Mohanlal whose terrible demeanor corroborates one's doubt about his "acting completeness," if you know what I mean.

Vineeth (Mohanlal) is a careless, bad-mannered, irresponsible, shameless, self-righteous, lazy quinquagenarian who works as a journalist for a family magazine. He drives a TATA Nano, you know, to suggest the people's man nonsense. Vineeth, hated by his colleagues and bosses, is assigned the task of interviewing Deepa (Warrier), a virtuous yet smug advocate, single mother, fierce yet namesake activist, Bharatanatyam dancer, and other hundred things. After Deepa became a media personage for advocating the perils of unending stream of potholes in her city, she becomes what she became in How Old Are You? (2014) - a sensation. Then everything in the plot happens for a single reason - to champion Manju Warrier as a sensation with unbeatable panache for going against all odds, thereby cramming the line between fiction and reality. The writers who intend to cash in on Warrier's unsurprising allure should understand that one is bored with stories that are relative to the actors who play the characters. The plot simply brands Warrier as a lady with superpowers. Otherwise, why else would she be characterized as a celebrated advocate a la her comeback film (2014) whose one daring, pretentious gimmick drives the whole film into becoming a chafing drama? Deepa is a lawyer, but one is hardly entertained by court proceedings or actual advocacy happening in the plot even when there were many occasions to do so. The film, which moves with a slow pace with fast-paced idiotic humor, totally loses it when Deepa is seen giving a Bharatanatyam performance during a bar association conference. Terrible!

Moreover, the whole film is based on fallacy. If Vineeth wanted to interview Deepa, he should have either intimated her through his respectable magazine editors or have directly called her for an appointment. But, no, Vineeth goes on a blundering spree - frequently showcasing childish antics - to get to Deepa, making her take him as a debaucher. Why should I sympathize for such a character? His ways are ridiculous and totally unprofessional, and since the whole film is based on this one interview, one should know better what to expect in the even numbing second half. The pointer is that suddenly the characters undergo a transformation after a cliché, and voilà - a happy climax.

There are at least two unnecessary characters who could have been used to depict some that seemed more important in the play, but are kept in the background. Mohanlal fumbles throughout, whose slapstick is cringe-worthy. Revisiting old films (Ayal Kadha Ezhuthukayanu [1998] & Gandhinagar 2nd Street [1986]) doesn't work either. Warrier is good, but not great. Innocent overacts to the core. Lena and Jacob Gregory were fine, but could you please go back to the first sentence of this paragraph?

Ennum Eppozhum may have the basic ingredients, but there is no story long in sight. And if it had a message to convey, it is lost in the useless intricacies of drama. There's an Anthikadan attempt at humor with Renji Panicker's help, which if, I believe, was attached to the plot line with a bigger arc could have salvaged the film. The music is cranky, dialogs are bland, production design and setup are average, writing is nonsensical and the title makes bland sense.

BOTTOM LINE: At best, it is a poorly made family drama that may appeal to older (45+) and younger (10-) folks. One should thank heavens it is not a love story, because sitting through 147 minutes of emptiness would already be a daunting effort. If you want to see some boxing and Bharatanatyam dancing from a journalist and a lawyer respectively, then you will relish the idea of Ennum Eppozhum. Otherwise, sit home and watch the developments of the Cricket World Cup 2015 final. 2/10 - Avoidable!

Can be watched with a typical Indian family? YES

'Ennum Eppozhum' was in limelight for sometime now because it marked the return of the celebrated combo of Mohanlal and Manju Warrier,sharing the screen-space after a long gap of 17 years,but is the end result worth all the wait?The answer is a big No.A strictly passable movie from sathyan aimed at families,'Ennum Eppozhum' fails to keep the expectations intact and ends as a lame effort from the whole team.

Here,even though the backdrop changes to the city,the characters are typical of Sathyan movies from the past and the situations they get into reminds of his own numerous films from the past where a virtuous lot and their problems are showcased with a fair quota of humor,which sadly doesn't work in the case of Ennum Eppozhum to a large extent.Yes,the title seem ironical,making a statement that the specialist in producing feel good family entertainers,Sathyan Anthikkad is not enthusiastic to move out of his comfort zone,but I do believe its hard time that he does something different from his usual done-to-death formula.

There isn't much substance in the storyline by Ravindran and Ranjan Pramod's screenplay too failed to make wonders without offering anything novel and the end result is a watch and forget affair similar to 'Snehaveedu' without any freshness or highlight to point out as such.The narration lacked the much needed energy and turned boring in between which was made worse by the inherent lag due to lengthy and unwanted sequences that could have easily been chopped off in the editing table.A small idea looks stretched unnecessarily into around 147 minutes with moments of thrill being few and far between.A lot of questions are left unanswered like the budding romance between Kalyani and Vineeth and the need for an array of underdeveloped and easily avoidable characters like that of Kochousep Chitilappally and Renji Panikker.

Lalettan as the lead character 'Vineeth.N.Pillai' is the prime factor which makes the movie watchable and he manages to hold the movie firm,even though with partial success,at times when one feel the narration is losing its grip on the viewers.The sequences involving him that reminds of movies like Ayaal Kadha Ezhuthukayaanu,Gandhinagar Second Street,Thoovana Thumbikal etc looked forced on screen,as if a desperate attempt to exploit one's nostalgia of the past.Many sequences involving Manju's character looked as if an advertisement of her own real life with dialogs aimed at Janapriyanayakan.Her performance too felt artificial at times and one must admit the fact the flow and naturality that the actress once possessed is missing of late.Jacob Gregory's comedy sequences couldn't make much impact as intended.

The album by Vidyasagar has a typical Illaiyaraja-Sathyan Anthikkad aura with the song 'Malarvaaka Kombathu" being the pick.The song placement wasn't perfect and affected the pace of the narration.Frames by Neil D'Cunha was fresh but the editing by K.Rajagopal was below par.

Overall,Ennum Eppozhum fails to keep up the expectations and turns out to be a lack-luster effort without much to be proud of.

Verdict::Ennum Eppozhum is a rather disappointing effort from Sathyan which is at best passable for yet another good performance from 'The Complete Actor'.Watch it or leave it,its up-to you guys to decide.Not recommended! Ma Rating::5.5/10

The movies without any specific plot or story worth mentioning belong to two 'categories' mainly - The lack of a story is compensated by entertaining sequences, good dialogues and noteworthy performances for some while the movies in the other category meanders along aimlessly with only 'boredom and frustration' being the end result :) Ennum Eppozhum comfortably fits into the second category with nothing noteworthy to mention about and is made even worse by its set of 'un- inspiring' and 'cliché' sequences. The last 10-15 minutes offer the only 'watchable and happening moments' of the movie and neither Mohanlal nor Manju Warrier come up with anything outstanding to compensate for the lackluster story line or dialogues. In fact Mohanlal looks totally disinterested and 'out of place' for most of the movie and just about bursts into life towards the end !!! Yet another addition to the ever growing list of 'we've seen it all family hit' movies from Sathyan Anthikad :)