Nalla Nilavulla Rathri

I ventured out to the Oberon Mall PVR movie theatre to watch a Malayalam movie after a long time. It was a 4:45 PM show on a Saturday. I expected a huge crowd. But there was nobody at the PVR movie section of the Oberon mall. I have to say, it was a well kept theatre with many employees at the Cafe. But there was no audience. On a Saturday evening, for a movie with a superhit song, nobody turned up. The movie hall, after I sat down to endure the crappy advertisements and the cigarette smoking warning, was around 20% full with people trickling in after it started.

Nalla Nilavulla Rathri is a bad film. Nothing in this movie works. It is so damn artificial. The acting and script are huge problems. Veterans Sai Kumar and Baburaj are the only ones who do a good job. The new generation - Binu Pappu, Jinu and Chemban all phone it in. They are not even trying. My god, they are so damn self conscious in front of the camera. Their lack of effort is very visible. Chemban's acting needs to be called out now. He was bad in VIKRAM. He ruined the small well written scene he had in ROMANCHAM. He does not even put in an effort in this film. He plays a pivotal character but his performance is so damn lazy. His expressions and demeanor are a joke. Chemban is pathetic in this movie. I mean come on, Chemban, you have a great screen presence, but please work harder. You are a veteran now.

The script was pretty good in the first half despite a fair amount of artificiality. But then, the director seemed to be aiming for an over the top vibe and I was OK with that. Man, does it all fall apart in the second half? The twist at the interval. What was the beef between Irumban and Kurien? The sudden shift of all these alpha males into a bunch of cowards. Hahahhahahha! It was laughable. The characters were poorly developed. Chemban Vinod's acting made it even worse.

I was fed up with the pathetic heroes (main characters). I was not prepared for the grotesque villains who despite the snarling, were unremarkable. What was up with these guys? The villains (look, everyone is a villain in this movie) have spit falling out of their mouths. Not much thought went into how these villains needed to be portrayed. It seemed like the director was trying to make some sort of half assed political statement in a horror movie. What was he even thinking? What was the producer Sandra Thomas thinking?

Then the action scenes. They go on and on without creating any real impact. May I use the word tedious? Why? Why was this film even made? This is a bad film. Nothing in the movie works.

I believe the money was spent on a one-liner pitch of the film. As such it seems to have the potential. This is where principles like 40/70 rule apply. Only commit to a film if you go through and like 70 % of the whole film structure. The direction is lackluster, more time was required in character development, it is very clear that there was a confusion in plot development and writing. Before COVID, senseless violence was an interim thing in Malayalam films, and I hoped unnecessary films without much of a plot like that ended there. However, the best thing that could be said is that this at best a b-grade slasher movie. If they introduced a werewolf or some similar Indian folklore legend like a group of werebears (jambavans-caretakers of the forest)/werepigs as the ones that are unleashing all the violence in the film, audience wouldn't have minded. Then, the film would have been a better classic slasher movie with a possible shot of suspense filled end-frame. However, then too they have to work on how the story should bloom on the screen.

After watching the movie, I found myself saying, "Enthaappoondaye... enthinna aalukal padakkam pottiche... innu Vishuva!"

The first and second halves of the movie seemed disconnected, and the overall execution could have been better. While the story had potential, it lost its essence on the big screen. If they were planning a sequel, they should have announced it earlier because there are many unresolved questions in the film. Unfortunately, the movie didn't perform well at the box office, so a second part seems unlikely.

On a positive note, the actors, especially Babu Raj, delivered strong performances. However, the fight sequences could have been more engaging, given their importance in the second half. The villains' backstory and motivations were unclear - were they villagers or forest dwellers? Their side of the story seemed to be"Evidenno vannu engotto poyyi..!"

Overall, the film had the potential to be a decent hit with better storytelling, character development, and a more satisfying climax.

Murphy Devassy, making his debut as a director and screenwriter, and I must say he's done an excellent job with the execution of this movie.. the screenplay and dialogues was just too good to keep you keen to know what next.. I mist emphasise that all characters have played their part exceptionally well.. loved the song which got me telling my friends we need a boys party, but what I saw subsequently was gruesome. The director also keep u thinking if there's a second part to the movie in the end.. for me to review this movie without knowing anything about the movie is an honest feedback, great work by Murphy Devassy, making his debut as a director and screenwriter,

It was so great to see this strong male cast with all our favorite actors on board😃 Buuuttt very regrettably the film felt like it told us two different stories...which broke the momentum.

DELICIOUS

-The cinematography did a great job to enhance the storytelling, The camera angles and movements were teasing us throughout the narrative. Letting us know that the atmosphere was ominous and suspicious

-The visual and special effects during the explosion scene were impressive, it was terrifying, we were so uneasy trying to figure out what we would do if we were in the characters' shoes😱

-It was symbolic that the savage nature encountered during the story represented man and his desire to get rich by all means possible, kinda like a dog-eat-dog mentality.

And it was significant that the farm plantation which was once a business opportunity became a battlefield

BLAND

-From the beginning to the climax, we understood where the narrative was headed. After the climax, it now felt like we were watching a survival film which had nothing to do with the overall purpose

-Additionally, the storytelling was dragging. It took a long time to arrive at the climax, many scenes were going in circles, and even after the climax, there was a long moment spent with the characters trying in vain to run for their lives 🙁