Odiyan

Odiayan tells the story of Manikyan, the last of the Odiyan clan, who were infamous for manipulating darkness with their supposed sorcery to scare folks.

I have been fairly distant from Malayalam cinema off-late, not on purpose. The material the industry keeps churning out were less than impressive, a mere attempt to make some money.

I have been following Odiyan's journey since it was first announced and have been eagerly awaiting it. The premise seemed exciting and the cast was solid.

When the trailer arrived, I lost a little hope, I thought to myself, "is this another "mass" action flick that Aashirvad, Mohanlal and Anthony Perumbavoor are just trying to cash in on?" Nevertheless, I bought myself a ticket and sat down like the Lalettan fan I am for some masterful acting and a trip to a bygone era.

Sadly, Odiyan was a disappointment. There are glimpses of epic hiding here there and everywhere throughout the runtime, but an abundance of hero worshipping and dumbing down ruin the film.

I had watched an interview with Director V A Shreekumar recently where he described the first draft as a more classical approach with "light" as the villain. He goes on to say that How it was producer Anthony Perumbavoor who persuaded him to opt for an antagonist in human form for commercial purposes.

Mohanlal as always brings his A-game, not for a moment do you get hung up on his makeup and prosthetics. Manju Warier and Prakash Raj also give noteworthy performances, everyone else sadly is just apt. This is predominantly due to the fact that there wasn't room for their characters to grow.

The action sequences in the film have been getting much praise and it is very impressive and engaging, but at certain points, it stops fitting the time-frame and the narrative. Likewise, the visuals seem oversaturated and rather ill-fitting, this over-saturation transfers on to the night scenes, which seems to happen often in Malayalam films off-late. As a film where darkness plays a key role, you would think they would perfect it a little more. The soundtrack by Jayachandran is enjoyable, but it fails to impress.

Mohanlal and his teams need to start thinking about his future pictures as cinemas and stories rather than mere products that cater for all.

Odiyan was the culmination of more than 2 years of intense and unwilling determination of several individuals and artists, that worked their assess of and promoted the Mohanlal starrer to sky high limits. The hype and anticipation surrounding Odiyan cannot be replicated by no other film in an industry within the same limits that Odiyan achieved it. It would take a year, nay 2 at the least to get the status and promotion that Odiyan managed to grab within its production time. By means of measuring the crew's work ethic on Promotion and Marketing, they should receive a thunderous and welcoming applause. This is also part reason why the film failed in its early screenings to get the reaction that they so badly anticipated.

Odiyan is next in the club of 'sky hype films that failed to impress'. Kammara Sambhvam, Kayamkulam Kochunni (critically), Villain, Gangster, Casanova and now Odiyan all are films that should have performed way well critically based on the aura surrounding the release and hype. It's not that the film is bad, it's partly because of the trust that they audience entrust into the hands of the Director to make their 'Star' God-like. And when they fail in that respect, they should at least utilise the power and people support that the actor possesses. Pre-release Inflated collections, Overkill tweets and media attention all were part of the Odiyan-killing fest.

Odiyan works in parts in its own way. It becomes grounded and closer to reality than you probably expected. It was presented well, as a folklore, a mystery but what we came down to was some guys earning money by scaring other dudes. But it wasn't BAD. It's all about perspective and probably the only thing one can say to console themselves.

Odiyan excels in its songs, the technical aspects, the powerful and excellent BGM and most of the lead performances. Manju Warrier's performance was meh. It wasn't too good nor too bad. It was just Manju Warrier playing Manju Warrier generic roles. Sana Althaf did her part right. And the supporting cast just yells excellence. From Siddique to Prakash Raj, the lead cast is often tipped over by the overflowing supporting casts. The direction was fine. The handling of the script and putting together the film could have been way, way better. It just shows why a debutant can't make miracles, let alone handle one. I can't say if Mohanlal is used completely here. He does evoke all the necessary emotions at the right time and deserves to be the spotlight. But the lack of characters that has actual lines in comparison to characters that are so one dimensional they are just there to glorify and praise Mohanlal.

Praise be to the crew. They did what they could do and did wonders. The VFX, the other technical aspects were all fine and doesn't give any hiccups to spare. Shrikumar Menon is the central figure that everyone is gonna throw stones at. And Odiyan just might be something that we may never 'forget'.

Odiyan's strong start and strong finish barely makes it a strict one time watch. Watch it for Mohanlal and the brilliantly crafted atmosphere for which i applaud the Cinematography for. Odiyan is no film that achieves wonders. But it is still a film made with good intentions, ain't?

As a super star of mollywood mohanlal maintained his stardom throughout the film.Eventhough the story has little minute errors those are avoidable.Its a highly recommend movie if you love fantasy movies

Yes there was potential but an ambitious project like this needs skillful men behind this.With both the writer and director failing at their job its a collosal disappointment.

Expectations were lot from Peter Hein who rocked last time with Pulimurugan. But with an ordinary work he is also in the blacklist here.Even the much talked about 'Odi' scenes aren't convincing as most of them looks silly.

Coming to the cast all the roles are poorly etched apart from @Mohanlal and a talented protagonist material like Prakash Raj is offered a plastic character which is another flaw.

Technically the visuals are top notch and Sam's bgm work is commendable but the same cannot be said about editing which acts as a villain for the films non-linear narration.

And about the hero @Mohanlal , we all know how much effort and pain he has gone through for this project but in the wrong hands all of that goes in vain. But his appearance is one of the few positives in this weak film.

I fail to understand the harsh criticism this movie has received so far. Is Odiyan extraordinary? No. But it is a really good family entertainer. The movie is loaded with interesting concepts, some fine acting by Mohanlal, visual treats and great stunts. It does drag in parts, but is definitely worth watching for the numerous positives it has to offer.