Spirit

Mohanlal stars as Raghunandan, a narcissistic genius and philosopher who hosts a show called 'Show the Spirit', where he uncovers and unmasks political and authority figures through well crafted interviews, with the help of thoroughly researched background checks.

He is also a compulsive alcoholic who has a shattered family life, his wife having divorced him earlier due to his drinking. However, he shares a healthy relationship with her and her current husband. But his constant alcoholism and air of superiority makes him obnoxious and irritating.

The movie is about him realizing how addicted he has become to alcohol and how he decides to move away from it.

The movie's not perfect - The show 'Show the Spirit' in its shown format is just surreal; there is no real incentive for guests to come and participate in it simply to be ripped apart. Since the show is said to be a huge hit, any potential guest should be aware of what they're in for.

Another issue is that there is no evidence to the claim that Raghunandan is a genius. It is shown that everyone accepts this premise, but there is nothing exceptional in what he says/ does that would allow us to buy in to the claim.

Alcoholism is portrayed very well, down to the the righteous indignation and lack of awareness of the extent of addiction. But the climactic experiment (I'm not saying what it is) is simply unrealistic. But overall, still a good movie. Very well made and with excellent, realistic performances all around.

Spirit is yet another brilliant film to have come out from the Malayalam film industry in recent times,owing hugely to the tides of change that has rocked Malayalam movie industry for the past couple of years. The hit duo of Mohanlal-Ranjith returns after 6 years to deliver a film that has got heart and succeeds in conveying the message to the viewer. The film is set around the life of a chronic alcoholic,Raghunandan(Mohanlal) who is a bank employee turned TV host/Writer. His personal life is a big mess and he has been divorced for years.Kaniha plays the role of Meera,Raghunandans ex-wife who is now married to Alexy(Sankar Ramakrishnan). Sankar Ramakrishnan makes a good debut and does justice to the role.All the characters are excellently portrayed by veteran actors like Madhu,Thilakan etc. Nandhu deserves a special applause and this is by far his best film ever. The credit goes to Renjith for knitting a well written story line and giving scope to his actors. All in all, this movie is a Mohanlal classic from the beginning to the end.He takes the center stage and performs like the master he is. And he yet again proves that there's no one else in the world who could do better than him in drunkard-roles.Not even you,Johnny Depp!

Its a movie which transfer a message to the society. The base character Raghunandan was handled by Mohanlal very nicely. The movie having a dramatic touch. In Kerala we need this type of movies. That will help the people to think about themselves. Poverty is base issue in India, but the alcohol usage is very high compare to all developed and developing countries. So the movie giving most wonderful message to the people in kerala. In every celebration kerala is swimming in alcohol. That is not a good thing. Indian had a good traditional civilization. So we are responsible for keeping that good civilization. Here the spirit come with full spirit. Nice work by Renjit.

After 5 years the biggest crowd puller combo of Malayalam cinema, Mohanlal-Ranjith, unites via Spirit. Even though the last couple of movies these two united where disasters Spirit had generated lot of curiosity & excitement thanks to Ranjith's last few films (Kayyoppu, Thirakadha, Paleri Manickyam, Pranchiyettan, Indian Ruppee) - The daring attempt to break free from the shackles of commercial cinema frame work & tell meaningful stories were evident in all these flicks, so Malayalam movie lovers were expecting a treat and their wish is granted to a larger extend via Spirit Spirit is the story of Raghunandan (Mohanlal). He is a severe alcoholic & people call him 'lotus' coz he is always 'drunk'. His wife (Kaniha) divorced him due to this & married Alex (Shankar Ramakrishnan), but the 3 still remain good friends. How certain incidents in his life change the attitude towards life & drinking is the crux of the story.

The film rests on the broad shoulders of acting genius Mohanlal & he has done an outstanding job as the drunkard Raghhunandan (We already know that nobody can beat him in the Drunken act in the whole wide world). But its not just a one man show there all the supporting cast were impressive and all of them got claps in one or more scenes. Shankar Ramakrishnan has made an impressive debut , thanks Ranjith for finding the actor in the talented writer/director, he has done full Justice to the rule which i believe was to be done by Prakashraj at the beginning.

Spirit doesn't have the push to satisfy moviegoers! Yea we do feel enlivened and rejuvenated at the end albeit having watched an average affair. Appreciable if it does transform some lives, anything above that would be too much an ask.

The performances - and that alone - would be the USP of Spirit, all of them so brilliant. Nandu and Kalpana stands out, complemented well by Shankar Ramakrishnan, Lena, Madhu, Tiny Tom, Siddharth. Not to mention an extended cameo from Thilakan. Lalettan as usual excels, he does the role of an alcoholic with élan. The screenplay is weak in parts - the arrangement and timing is not Ranjith's forte - and at times too dramatic with artful dialogs which would be appreciated by high profile critics. The music sounded like lifts from Indian Rupee :P

Ranjith tries to pull in all social issues, alcoholism in the front row. The medium though used to reach out as shown in the movie never launched well, in fact the chat shows in the movie were dumb. One scene which needs special mention is where the protagonist feels free in the rain breaking loose, thematically showing how he got freed from the menace that is alcohol. The transformation, the preaching, the good ending!! Not unheard or unseen. Just wish had it been made a much better movie, for it had all the stuff to enlighten lives, sadly but staggers at regular intervals :(. To sum it up, Spirit is artistic with a social message, a good one time watch. 6.5/10