'Oru Cinemakkaran' has a first half that is frisky for most part - some of the comedy works and some of it doesn't. It entails the struggle of an aspiring film-maker Alby (played by Vineeth Sreenivasan) while trying to balance his relationship equation with Sara (played by the all-too-natural Rajisha Vijayan). When they get married against the wishes of both their parents, finances persistently become a problem in their otherwise jovial lives.
The Leo Thaddeus movie shifts gears every now and then, in a blatant attempt to engage the audience. The humor prompted every now and then by the likes of Abu Salim, Jaffer Idukki, Hareesh Kanaran and Ranji Panicker succeeds to an extent in generating a few guffaws, but are mostly unrelated to the central plot. After the jaunty initial hour, the wannabe film-maker struggles take a back seat and the much-seen 'financial-trouble-in-the-family' scenario kicks in, with a few ponderous stretches of Alby trying to source funds and making his way to the bank, unfolding in a rather tedious manner.
The movie makes its second genre shift (from comedy to family drama to murder-thriller) towards the interval point and thereafter there's no looking-back. The comedy falls to a negligible low, Vineeth Sreenivasan's limited set of expressions fail to convey the right kind of tensive mood, and there's an over-the-top (and at times, unintentionally funny) performance from Prashant Narayan who plays the cop leading the investigation of said murder-mystery. An ardent viewer will know for sure that the finale is not exactly going to be the bone-tingler that you'd expect, and ends up strictly serviceable. Rajisha Vijayan shines in most scenes that she's in, towering over her on-screen counterpart, although her role is sortof restricted in the second half. The supporting cast comprises of the usual names in present day Malayalam cinema and they do not disappoint either, but Vijay Babu and Anusree whose roles are pivotal to the movie are unfortunately let down by subpar writing.
Song compositions by Bijibal are just about okay. 'Oru Cinemakkaran' isn't a film that breaks new ground in the cinematography and editing departments either. When the technicalities are basic, it takes good crafting, a watertight script and exceptional performances to keep the audience engrossed. 'Oru Cinemakkaran' is barely able to accomplish this feat and crawls to its final destination.
P.S - The scene where producer Tomichan Mulakupadam comments on wanting to reduce the "classy" element in Alby's script, was such a bummer. Never, ever compromise on "class", all you aspiring film-makers!
